STANLEYS' LMIN 



ASI 



ia Expedition 




CIass_jnXAU_ 

BooktV|rW ^ 

PRESENTED BY 




HENRY M. STANLEY. 



STANLEY'S 
EMIN PASHA 

EXPEDITION 



£\ j/vAUTERS 

CHIEF EDITOR OF THE MOUVEMEXT GEOGRAPHIQUE, BRUSSELS 



WITH ILL USTEA TIONS 



NEW YORK 
JOHN B. ALDJEN, PUBLISHEE 

1890 









4 « „ • • • • o 



CONTENTS. 



I. Conquest of the Soudan, - - - - IB 

II. Revolt of the Mahdi — Gordon Pasha — Siege of 
Khartoum and Relief Expedition Under Lord 
Wolseley, ------ 24 

III. The Equatorial Provinces — Lupton Bey and Emin 

Bey, - - 36 

IY. Dr. Junker and Casati — The Niam-niam — The 

Monbuttu, ----- 47 

V. Prisoners in the Soudan, - - - - 56 

VI. Return of Dr. Junker, 66 

VII. The Relief Expedition— Tippoo Tib, - - - 76 

VIII. On the Lower Congo, ... 88 

IX. The District of the Falls, - - - - 97 

X. Stanley Pool, - - - 111 

XL On the Upper Congo, - - - - - 123 

XII. The Camp at Yambuya, 130 

XIII. Fifteen Months of Uncertainty : Is He Killed, 

Unable to Leave, or a Prisoner ? — The White 
Pasha, - - - - - - 133 

XIV. Through an Unknown Country — From the Camp at 

Yambuya to Lake Albert, - - - 144 

J XV. Meeting of Stanley and Emin Bey on Lake Albert, - 156 
V XYL To the Assistance of the Rear-Guard — Murder of 

Major Barttelot — Starving in the Forest, - 166 

XV r II. Revolt of the Egyptian Troops — Emin Pasha and 

Jephson Prisoners — Mahdist Invasion, - - 177 

XVIII. Another Meeting of Emin Bey and Stanley — The 

Soudan Abandoned, - 184 

XIX. Retreat of the Fifteen Hundred — The Mountains of 

the Moon and the Sources of the Nile, - - 195 

XX. The Return to Zanzibar— Thalassa !— Thalassa ! - 202 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Henry M. Stanley, - Frontispiece. 

Map of Central Africa showing Stanley's Route, - 7 

General Gordon, ------ 20 

Lupton Bey, ------ 20 

Captain Casati, ------ 20 

Dr. Junker, ------ 20 

Emin Pasha, ------ 47 

TippooTib, ------ 84 

Carrying the Steel Boat and Cutting a Path through the 

Forest, 133 

Fight in Majamboni's Country, - - - 152 

Captain Nelson's " Starvation Camp," - - - 174 

Ruwenzori. — Mountains of the Moon, - - 198 



45 



-_=- 



INTRODUCTION. 



In February 1883 Dr. Junker had penetrated so far 
into the heart of Africa that he found himself at the 
zeriba Ali Kobo, on the banks of the Welle Makowa, 
in a region hitherto traversed by no other European. 

For three years this indefatigable traveller had been 
exploring; north and south, east and west, the districts 
watered by the Welle, in the hope of finding a definite 
solution to the important geographical problem pro- 
pounded by his friend Dr. Schweinf urth, thirteen years 
previously, as to whether the Welle was connected with 
the Shary and thence with Lake Tchad, or whether it 
flowed into the Congo. 

It needed only a few more weeks of perseverance 
and progress towards the west, and the explorer would 
have attained his end and reaped the reward of his la- 
bors. He was within a few days' march of the Congo 
and was about to push onwards, when letters from 
Lupton Bey brought news of startling import and put 
an end to further investigations. 

Dr. Junker had for a considerable time been quite 
aware how the country around Khartoum was harassed 
by the revolutionary action of an agitator who pro- 
fessed himself to be the u Mahdi," that is, a deliverer 
invested with a supernatural mission. He had been 
apprised that the powerful tribe of the Dinka had taken 
arms, and was threatening the military settlements and 
zeribas on the Bahr-el-Ghazal ; and had further learnt 
from Lupton Bey, who was the representative of the 
Egyptian government in that province, that the route 
between the Niam-niam country and the landing-place 
of Rek on the Bahr-el-Ghazal was completely block- 
aded, while the Mahdists were at the same time mak- 
ing an alarming progress. Lupton Bey's advice to 



8 INTRODUCTION, 

him was that he should endeavor forthwith to return to 
Egypt ; and letters received at Semmio, his station in 
the Niam-niam country, as well as those which came to 
hand some weeks later, so far from representing the 
outlook in a more reassuring light, pictured it as 
dark and overclouded. The Dinka round Meshra-er- 
Rek, and the Mahdi's forces about Khartoum, were 
steadily gaining ground, so that the northern route was 
ever becoming moro and more impracticable. The con- 
viction, therefore, could not fail to take hold on his 
mind that he would be obliged to remain in the south 
for the repression of the two revolts before he could 
carry out his d resign of returning to Europe by way of 
Egypt and the Nile. 

A certain presentiment of the hard times which he 
would have to face had already occurred to him. In 
his journal of August 1, 1883, he made the entry: — 
4 'AH hope of seeing my country this year is fading 
away. Thanks to frequent communications from Lup- 
ton Bey, I have been kept informed of the events on 
the Bahr-el-Ghazal. Our gaze is fastened on the north, 
whence with the utmost anxiety we are looking for re- 
lief. The Khartoum steamer is expected. The last 
news from Lupton is urgent ; Hassan Mussa has been 
killed ; sixty moro guns have fallen into the hands of 
the rebels ; the road to Meshra-er-Rek is again closed, 
and 900 soldiers are about to make an effort to reopen 
it. My fears for the population of the Rohl and for 
the station of Rumbek are verified, for Lupton writes, 
4 Rumbek is destroyed, only six soldiers managing to 
escape,' while he further announces the desertion of 
about thirty Dongolese, drawn over by some fakirs to 
the Mahdi. If the disasters that I forebode should 
come to pass, and the Arabs, driven down from the 
north, should invade the Bahr-el-Ghazal, I foresee 
that there will be no alternative for us but to retreat 
by the south. O that help may arrive from Khartoum ! " 

But the hope was in vain. There was no longer any 
chance of relief from the north. Neither Meshra nor 
Lado was again to welcome a steamer from Khartoum. 
The northern road was closed, and the entire situation 
in the Soudan was critical to a degree of which Dr. 
Junker in his remote station in the Niam-niam country 
gould form no conception. 



INTRODUCTION. V 

The situation, in fact, was more than serious. In 
Kordofan and the Bahr-el-Ghazal district the Arab and 
the negro were persistently joining the rebels ; Sennar 
and El-Obeid were threatened ; the Egyptian corps in 
Darfur, as well as the detachments under Lupton and 
Emin, was absolutely cut off from the rest of the Sou- 
dan, and the Mahdi, whose audacity increased with his 
prestige, had under him an army of at least 100,000 
men. Moreover, the government troops had met with 
sanguinary reverses, and were reduced to such a state 
of alarm that symptoms of rebellion had begun to 
appear in their v ranks. The governor-general, Abd- 
el-Kadir, was almost overpowered, and con pelled no 
longer to send for a few battalions from Cairo, but to 
implore that an army might be despatched to his aid. 
Altogether, things were becoming desperate. 

It was in this emergency that the British govern- 
ment, rousing itself from its protracted reserve, de- 
termined to substitute its own action for the inadequate 
efforts of the Khedive, and proceeded to equip 10,000 
soldiers who should start from Sua kin, make forced 
marches, and re-establish order in Kordofan. 

All along, throughout this time, at Lado, at Meshra, 
and at Semmio, anxious eyes were turned towards 
Khartoum awaiting help. But no help was forthcom- 
ing. The drama of the Soudan had commenced. 

On a stage of which the scenery extended from the 
Red Sea to Lake Victoria, from the frontier of Abys- 
sinnia to the remote confines of Darfur, scenes wild and 
bloody were about to be enacted. Face to face with 
the invincible Mahdi and his fierce general Osnan 
Digna were now to appear successively Hicks Pasha, 
Baker Pasha, General Graham, and Admiral Hewett ; 
in his turn should follow General Gordon, the hero 
sans 'peur et sans reproche ; and then finally a sec end 
British army under the command of the renowned Lord 
Wolseley, the victor at Tel-el-Kebir. 

And so for three years along the Nile there ensued 
a series of terrible struggles, of brilliant, sanguinary, 
yet futile engagements, of which the eventual results 
were alike disastrous to the cause of civilisation and 
damaging to English prestige. 

The drama came to an end. When Baker was 
worsted, Khartoum captured, Gordon massacred, 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

Wolseley in retreat, and the Soudan abandoned to the 
hands of the Mussulman and slave-hunter, it seemed 
as if civilisation was arrested, the hope of years was 
extinguished, inasmuch as not an individual remained 
who could give effect to the counsels of Europe. The 
Khamsin, which at the bidding of a fanatical .leader 
had arisen in the desert, had made all things retire be- 
fore it, and the region of the Nile-sources must again 
relapse into the gloom of night. 

Such, at least, for a considerable time was the 
general conviction, until, one day, from beyond the 
domain of the bloodthirsty tyrant of Uganda, from 
Msalala, the Christian mission station by the southern 
shore of Lake Victoria, suddenly there rose the voice 
of Junker. 

He announced that he was safe, and that Emm with 
the soldiers who had remained faithful to him was safe 
also ; so too was the Italian explorer Casati. All 
three had succeeded in securing their liberty amidst 
the break-down of the Egyptian authority in the 
Soudan. 

The time had come for Dr. Junker to realise the 
truth of what in 1883 he had written in his diary, that 
if the events he dreaded should come to pass, there 
would be no alternative but that he must take a south- 
ern route. 

After two years and a half of suspense, of struggle 
and privation, the explorer resolved to attempt his re- 
treat by this southerly route, that he might make 
Egypt and Europe aware of the existence and critical 
position of these last defenders of the lost Soudan. 
It was another year before he succeeded in reaching 
Zanzibar. Europe was stirred by his appeal, and this 
time, without hesitation or delay, England undertook 
to organise an expedition ol relief. 

But the difficulty was great : the obstacles were 
many. What forces would be requisite to break 
through the enemies by which Emm was environed ? 
What route towards AVadelai should be chosen ? The 
hordes of the Mahdi barred all access from the north ; 
the warlike Masai and the battalions of Uganda held 
the east and the south ; the regions to the west were 
utterly unknown. Beyond all there lay the further 
question as to who should be the leader of such an en- 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

terprise. The way into the heart of that mysterious 
region was over mountains and valleys, through deserts, 
virgin forests and marshes, amidst savage and relent- 
less tribes, beneath the rays of the equatorial sun. 
Who should be found competent to conduct a caravan 
made up of numerous and promiscuous followers, 
equally ready to quarrel with nature and with their 
fellows, yet indispensable for the conveyance along 
that weary route of the double cargo of victuals, am- 
munition, and supplies? 

The answer was forthcoming. Then it was that for 
the fifth time Central Africa was to behold the hero, 
at once the discoverer and deliverer of Livingstone. 
Stanley was ready for the task. He chose the Congo 
route, which he had himself opened up for the com- 
mercial enterprise of Europe, while the opposition of 
the Mahdi was closing all access by the Nile. More 
fortunate than Wolseley, who only reached Khartoum 
in time to register its fall and the slaughter of its de- 
fenders, he accomplishes his arduous undertaking, and 
after three years' undaunted perseverance he has brought 
back Emin and Casati, with their faithful adherents, 
in safety and triumph to Zanzibar. 

It is the history of this ever-memorable expedition 
and of the dramatic events that led up to it, together 
with the important geographical discoveries resulting 
from it, that forms the subject of the ensuing pages. 



CHAPTER I. 

CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN. 

Project of Mehemet Ali — Khartoom — Meeting of Baker, Speke, and Grant 
at Gondokoro — First explorers of the Upper Nile — Ismailia, and expe- 
dition of Baker against Fatiko slave-traders — Exploration of the Bahr-el- 
Ghazal and discovery of the Welle by Schweinfurth — Zeribas on the 
Bahr-el-Ghazal — Ivory trade and kidnapping — Gordon's government — 
Europeans at the King of Uganda's court — Gessi Pasha on Lake Albert- 
Conquest of Darfoor, Chekka,and Dar-Fertit — Revolt of Suleiman-Zebehr 
— The Egyptian Soudan — Deposition of Ismail Pasha and recall of Gor- 
don— Raouf Pasha at Khartoom. 

At the elate of the earliest events which it is the pur- 
pose of this book to narrate, M. Louis Vossion, then 
French Vice-Consul at Khartoom, wrote the following 
description of the place : — 

" Khartoom, the capital of the Egyptian Soudan, 
stands on the left bank of the Blue Nile just at its 
junction with the White Nile. 

"Any traveller arriving at the town for the first 
time could not fail to experience much surprise. After 
passing what is called the Ras-el-Khartoom at the con- 
fluence of the two streams, a low tract of alluvial soil, 
covered with thick herbage relieved by occasional 
clumps of palms, the boat, all sails set, glides into the 
Blue Nile. A few minutes more and, hailed by the 
vociferous shouts of the Nubian boatmen, the town 
rises suddenly into view, with its palm-trees, its lines 
of little houses along the shore, its white mosques, with 
ttieir pointed minarets, all standing out sharply against 
the clear blue sky. Heavy boats called ' nuggers,' 
laden with durra-corn, wood, and gum-arabic, are 
ranged for nearly half a mile along the river-bank. 
The stone buildings of the Roman Mission of Verona 
and of Marquet's factory are conspicuous above the 
dwellings of Nile mud to which they are in proximity. 

" Upon landing, the stranger will find himself sur- 
rounded by a whole swarm of inquisitive negroes, and 



14 CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN. 

his astonishment will increase at every step ; he will 
at once be struck by the variety of the types of the 
tribes of the Soudan into which he is thrown so sud- 
denly. There are the Dinka, Shillooks of the White 
River, Bari from Gondokoro, people from Unyoro, 
Niam-niam from Makraka, Monbuttoo, Nueir, Dyoor, 
Bongo, Ferteet from the Bahr-el-Ghazal, Galla, Abys- 
sinians, negroes from Djebel-Nooba, Dongola, Darfoor, 
and Kordofan ; add to these Arabs of the various semi- 
independent tribes, Bishareens, Hadendowas, Chook- 
ries, Kababishes, Baggaras, Jews, Syrians, Greeks, 
and it may be imagined what a strange and well-nigh 
unique spectacle is presented by such an agglomeration 
of nationalities, all retaining their own traditions and 
marked out by their peculiar costumes ! 

" The general impression is intensified when it is 
remembered that Khartoom is on the very fringe of the 
civilised world, and is the threshold of that mysterious 
Africa which holds so many secrets in its bosom." 

When, in 1838, the energetic Viceroy Mehemet Ali 
made his journey into the Soudan, Khartoom was a 
mere fishing village ; but with a quick appreciation 
of its importance as a geographical position, he de- 
termined to rear upon its site a town that should be- 
come the capital of the new equatorial province over 
which it was his dream that he should reign. His 
successors, one after another, added a stone to the 
edifice by increasing the area of the new citj^, to which 
it was found that traders, not only from Egypt but 
from Europe, were ready and eager to flock. 

The increase of the population of Khartoom, thus 
rapid, was altogether beyond and out of proportion to 
the progress of its internal appliances. Sir Samuel 
Baker, who saw it for the first time in June 1862, de- 
scribes it as one of the most dirty, miserable, and un- 
healthy places that could be imagined. Built of sun- 
dried bricks, it stood upon a low-lying flat, which was 
often quite under water at the period of the floods. 
Notwithstanding that the houses were overcrowded 
with a population exceeding 30,000, there was no 
drainage nor sanitary arrangements of any kind. The 
streets were full of filth of every description ; the 
bodies of the dead animals that lay about were go many 



MEETING OP EXPLORERS. 15 

centres of corruption and disease. The entire aspect 
was that of utter misery. 

In matters of administration things were even worse. 
Musa Pasha, by his deplorable misgovernment, was 
ruining the country. From the highest to the lowest 
of his officials, dishonesty and fraud were the common 
characteristics ; every one cheated according to his 
rank. Slave traffic, with all its abominations, was the 
leading business of the place, a fact which has been 
demonstrated alike by Baker and Schweinfurth, who, 
at separate times, had ample opportunity of studying 
the matter upon the very scene of the misdoings. 

It was the laudable ambition to ascertain the true 
sources of the Nile that took Baker into regions south 
of Khartoom that had previously been unexplored. 
Accompanied by his courageous wife, on February 2, 
1863, he reached Gondokoro, then a miserable group 
of turf-cabins occupied only for two months in the 
year by the Khartoom traders whose " daliabieJis" could 
go no farther. He landed there to meet Speke and 
Grant, who, weary, ragged, and destitute, were on 
their way back from the interior along the Nile, of 
which they had just discovered the real springs. The 
meeting was a memorable epoch in the history of the 
Soudan ; it marked a new stage in the progress of the 
opening up of Equatorial Africa, betokening at the 
same time a fresh extension of Egyptian rule towards 
the south. 

In his own lively manner Baker gives a descrip- 
tion of the incident: — "Shots in the distance. The 
ivory-bearers that I have been expecting have ar- 
rived. My people are running frantically towards 
my boat and shouting that two white men from the 
sea are with them. Is it possible that they can be 
Speke and Grant? Away I start. True enough, there 
they are ! Hurrah for old England ! Returned they 
have from the Victoria Nyanza ; thence it is that 
the Nile flows forth ; . . . the mystery of the ages 
is solved. 

"At the same time, with all the excitement of joy 
there is mingled a sense of disappointment. It 
would have pleased me better to meet them far- 
ther on. However, it was satisfactory to know that 
I had made such arrangements as would have ensured 



16 CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN. 

my meeting them in case they were in any difficulty, 
as I ascertained that they had returned by the very 
route which I had proposed to follow. 

" My people are mad with delight : in firing a salute 
they have managed to kill one of my donkeys, a mel- 
ancholy sacrifice in celebration of the accomplishment 
of the great geographical discovery ! 

"When I first caught sight of them they were ap- 
proaching my boats. At the distance of some hun- 
dred yards I recognized my old friend Speke ; my 
heart throbbed with ecstacy, and raising my cap, I 
called aloud, ' Hurrah ! ' and ran towards him. At 
first he did not know me ; a beard and moustache of 
ten years' growth had so altered my countenance that, 
not expecting to meet me, he did not comprehend my 
sudden apparition. There was no need for Speke to 
introduce me to his companion, as we already felt 
like intimate friends. When the first transports of 
this propitious meeting were over we all proceeded to 
my clahabieh, through a cloud of smoke raised by the 
continuous salutes of my people." 

A year after the exploration of Lake Victoria by 
Speke and Grant, Baker made his name illustrious by 
the discovery of Lake Albert. Thenceforward an in- 
creasing interest was centred on these regions, and 
Gondokoro, from being the mere halting-place that it 
was when the three English travellers met there, be- 
came a new centre for the commercial activity of the 
Khartoom traders, as well as a starting-point for vari- 
ous scientific expeditions, the history of the Soudan 
becoming from that time intimately connected with 
the history of discovery. 

Antecedent to the enterprises that were undertaken 
by the three great Englishmen, there had already been 
various expeditions, half scientific, half commercial, 
which had partially raised the veil that concealed the 
inland regions of Africa from the curiosity of European 
eyes. William Lejean and Petherick hael visited the 
Upper Nile ; Piaggia had explored the Dyoor country 
and the Bahr-el-Ghazal ; Dr. Peney had reached Mount 
Gniri ; Dr. Cuny hael penetrated to Darfoor, Poncet 
to Dar-Ferteet, and Munziger to Kordofan. 

Greeelier than the vultures and hyenas of the desert, 
the Egyptian troops and Government officials had 



BAKER GOVERNOUR-GENERAL. 17 

followed in the wake of the explorers and traders, so 
that, little by little, the political limits of the new 
province were extended, while the native populations 
(their opposition and outbreaks being promptly sup- 
pressed by relentless bloodshed) successively submitted 
to the conqueror. 

In 1870 the extension of Egyptian territory towards 
the south was pushed forward by a larger and more 
rapid impetus. During that year Ismail Pasha, 
alarmed no doubt by the reports that reached him that 
the Soudan was becoming overrun by the Bashi-Ba- 
zouks, who, beyond control, were making perpetual 
incursions into it, made an appeal for European assist- 
ance to strengthen him in completing the conquest of 
Central Africa. Baker was accordingly placed in com- 
mand of 1200 men, supplied with cannon and steam- 
boats, and received the title of Governour-General of 
the provinces which he was commissioned to subdue. 
Having elected to make Gondokoro the seat of his 
government, he changed its name to Ismailia. He 
was not long in bringing the Bari to submission, and 
then, advancing southwards, he came to the districts 
of Doufil6 and Fatiko, a healthy region endowed by 
nature with fertile valleys and irrigated by limpid 
streams, but for years past converted into a sort of 
hell upon earth by the slave-hunters who had made it 
their headquarters. 

From these pests Baker delivered the locality, and 
having by his tact and energy overcome the distrust 
of the native rulers, he established over their territory 
a certain number of small military settlements, by 
means of which communication could be kept up with 
Egypt, and its authority over the country be main- 
tained. 

This expedition was accompanied by M. de Bizemont, 
a lieutenant in the French navy, as scientific attache ; 
but in spite of the favourable auspices which attended 
it at its outset, it can hardly be said to have fulfilled 
the expectations that had been formed about it. From 
the very first Baker had protested too strongly that he 
had come to the Upper Nile to destroy the slave-trade, 
and the consequence was, that he made himself ene- 
mies at once amongst the Viceroy's officials, who were 
all more or less interested in the negro traffic, and con- 



18 CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN. 

spired accordingly to frustrate his plans and to impede 
his progress. The result was, that he found himself 
unable to carry out his design of advancing as far as 
Lake Albert, and had to stop short at Masindi, the 
residence of Kamrasi, the native king of Unyoro. 

Baker returned to Europe nattering himself with the 
delusion that he had put an end to the scourge of 
slave-dealing. It was true that various slave-dealers' 
dens on the Upper Nile had been destroyed, a number 
of outlaws had been shot, and a few thousand misera- 
ble slaves had been set at liberty ; but beyond that 
nothing had been accomplished ; no sooner had the 
liberator turned his back than the odious traffic recom- 
menced with more vigour than before through the re- 
gion south of Gondokoro. 

This, however, was only one of the slave-hunting 
districts, and by no means the worst. To the west 
the basin of the Bahr-el-Ghazal was far more infested. 
Nowhere throughout the Soudan had the negro trade 
been more hideous and disastrous in its working than in 
the fertile and populous plains inhabited by the Dinka, 
the Dyoor, the Bongo, and the Niam-niam. While 
Baker was at Cairo organising his second expedition, 
Dr. Schweinfurth was exploring all this fine and in- 
teresting country, pushing forward to the Monbuttoo 
land, where he discovered the large river Welle. The 
story of his journey, which claims to be remembered 
as one of the most important scientific records of 
Equatorial Africa ever published, has thrown light 
upon districts in which for the last quarter of a cen- 
tury the Khartoom traders have established a series of 
fortified depdts. As this eminent traveller points out, 
these depdts were originally brought into existence for 
the sake of the ivory trade. They were set up in 
places where elephants were most abundant, and in the 
midst of peaceable populations, devoted to agriculture 
and cattle-breeding, and every year were visited by 
the Khartoomers, who carried back the ivory that had 
been procured. The men who were armed and de- 
spatched on these annual expeditions were composed 
of the very scum of the people. Ascending the Nile 
as far as Lake No, they spread themselves over the 
lands adjacent to the Bahr-el-Ghazal, the Bahr-el 
Arab, and their affluents, and having thus gained a 



SLAVE TRAFFIC. 19 

footing, proceeded to apportion the country amongst 
them. They reduced the natives to a state of sub- 
jection, and for the purpose of securing a base for 
further operations and obtaining free access to the sur- 
rounding districts, they established isolated settle- 
ments, which they enclosed by palisades and thorn- 
hedges, and which hence were called zeribas. The 
whole line of the various watercourses was thus stud- 
ded with these zeribas, which usually bore the names 
of the traders to whom they belonged, and are so 
distinguished upon the maps. 

But although originally designed purely for mer- 
cantile purposes, the settlements became gradually 
transformed into centres for slave-hunting. They 
were (and, though in a diminished degree, they are) 
the starting-points for expeditions of armed maraud- 
ers, who made sudden attacks upon the native villages, 
to which they set fire, and then, having reduced the 
terrified residents to a condition of helplessness, car- 
ried off the women and children, along with the ivory 
and the cattle. Destined to be bartered by the slavers 
for either money or merchandise, the miserable cap- 
tives were yoked two and two together, and dragged 
in long caravans to some place of embarkation, where 
they were crammed down into the holds of the daJia- 
biehs, and conveyed to the markets either on the coast 
or in the interior. 

Such was the way in which the ill-fated districts of 
the Egyptian Soudan, and especially those of the Bahr- 
el-Ghazai, Darfoor, Kordofan, and Djebel-Nooba, be- 
came, as it were, the nursery whence were supplied 
more than 30,000 slaves every year to satisfy the re- 

r quirements of Oriental luxury and debauch. 

' But the eyes of the civilised world were at length 
opened to the atrocities that at the close of the nine- 
teenth century were thus being perpetrated in the Sou- 
dan with the knowledge, and often by the connivance, 
of the Egyptian authorities. Under European com- 
pulsion, therefore, the Khedive Ismail undertook to 
promote measures to put a stop to the scandal. He 
entered into various conventions with England on the 
subject ; and in order to convince the Powers of the 
sincerity of his intentions, he consented to put the 
equatorial provinces under the administration of an 



20 CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN. 

European officer, who should be commissioned to carry 
on the work of repression, conquest, and organisation 
that had been commenced by Baker. His choice fell 
upon a man of exceptional ability, a brilliant officer 
trained at Woolwich, who had already gained high re- 
nown in China, not only for military talent, but for 
his adroitness and skill in negotiation and diplomacy. 
This was Colonel Gordon, familiarly known as " Chi- 
nese Gordon," who was now to add fresh lustre to his 
name in Egypt as Gordon Pasha. 

Gordon was appointed Governour-General of the 
Soudan in 1874. With him were associated Chaill6- 
Long, an American officer, who was chief of his staff ; 
the German, Dr. Emin Effendi, medical officer to the 
expedition ; Lieutenants Chippendall and Watson ; 
Gessi and Kemp, engineers ; two Englishmen, Messrs. 
Russell and Anson ; and two Frenchmen, MM. Au- 
guste and Ernest Linant de Belief onds, sons of an 
engineer who had been Minister of Public Works un- 
der Mehemet Ali. 

Thenceforward the territories, of which so little had 
hitherto been known, became the continual scene of 
military movements and scientific excursions. 

Colonel Chaille-Long, with a mission from Gordon 
to Mtesa, the king of Uganda, reached the residence 
of that potentate without hindrance, and was enter- 
tained with much magnificence. He availed himself 
of the opportunity to explore the northern section of 
Lake Victoria, and descending the Somerset Nile, not 
without some conflict w r ith the native tribes, he dis- 
covered on his way the lake which he designated by 
the name of Ibrahim Pasha. He rejoined Gordon at 
Gondokoro, and was subsequently despached by him, 
in company with Marno, the Austrian naturalist, to 
make an exploration on the Makraka district. 

Shortly after Chaille-Long had taken his departure 
from Uganda, Mtesa received other European visitors. 
M. Ernest Linant de Bellefonds arrived at the court, 
and was much surprised to find that the king had 
already welcomed another white stranger, who was 
seated at his side. His first impression was that 
this must be Cameron, but it proved to be Stanley,; 
who, having started from Zanzibar to make further in- 




LUPTON BEY. 



CAPTAIN CASATI. 




GENERAL GORDON. 



DK. JUNKER, 



EMBASSIES TO UGANDA. 21 

vestigations at Lake Victoria, had been r or pome dnys 
the guest of the black chief. 

Subsequently there arrived the German, Dr. Schnitz- 
el*, then known as Emin Effencli, but afterwards as 
Emin Bey. In the mission with which he was charged 
by Gordon to Mtesa he exhibited such diplomatic skill 
as to attract the approbation of his superior, and to 
mark him out for the important duties which he would 
afterwards be called to fulfil. 

All the time that Gordon was thus negotiating with 
Mtesa, and endeavouring to secure him as an ally who 
would acquiesce in his schemes, he was likewise laying 
himself out to extend his own authority in the direc- 
tion of Lake Albert. Two others of his party, the 
Englishmen Chippendall and Kemp, were sent out to 
explore the unknown portion of the Nile between Gon- 
dokoroand the lake, and succeeded in launching, above 
the rapids, a steam vessel, the " Khedive," and two 
iron-plated boats. On board one of these, the Italian 
engineer Gessi, accompanied by his fellow-countryman 
Piaggia, made his grand circumnavigation of Lake Al- 
bert in March and April 1876, taking possession of it 
in the name of the Khedive. 

Two years previously, after Ismail Ayoub's smart 
campaign, Darfoor, Chekka, and Dar-Ferteet had been 
annexed, Colonels Purely, Colston, and Mason having, 
by a series of military advances, united the new con- 
quests to Dongola and Khartoom. 

In that Darfoor campaign the Government had been 
backed up by a rich trader, Suleiman Zebehr, the 
owner of numerous zeribas and of large companies of 
armed slaves in the Bahr-el-Ghazal district. Having 
been rewarded for his support with the title of Bey 
and Mudir of Chekka, he seemed to be able to set no 
bounds to his ambition. Dazzled by his power, and 
irritated by the request of the Government that he 
should desist from his slave-raids, he broke out in re- 
volt, and making alliance with the dethroned Sultan 
of Darfoor, he attacked the Egyptian outposts, and 
fostered an insurrection which very nearly led to the 
loss of the province and that of the Bahr-el-G hazel. 

Had it not been for the energy and courage of Gessi, 
whom Gordon despatched with all speed to quell the 
rising rebellion, there is every probability that not only 



22 CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN. 

the Bahr-el-Ghazel and Darfoor, but part of Kordofan 
also, would have repudiated the authority of the Khe- 
dive, and relapsed into the control of the slave-hunt- 
ers. Gessi, however, was equal to his task. Although 
without provisions, and almost without ammunition, 
and supported by a comparatively small force, he made 
an intrepid advance, and by his resolution not only 
succeeded in preventing the two enemies from effecting 
a junction, but routed them separately before they 
could combine. Zebehr and his chief officers were ar- 
rested and executed, Gessi taking up his quarters in 
the Bahr-el-Ghazel, of which he was appointed Gov- 
ernour. 

Under Gessi's administration the province was en- 
abled to enjoy a period of peace and prosperity. Ow- 
ing to his energy and skill, ways of communication 
were opened, forsaken villages were repopulated, lands 
were brought afresh into cultivation, slave-raids ceased, 
the natives regained confidence, and agriculture and 
commerce began to take a new start. 

In the meanwhile Gordon Pasha, on his part, was 
vigorously carrying on the work of organisation in the 
equatorial provinces. Leaving Gondokoro, which was 
situated in a bad and unhealthy locality, exposed to 
the miasma of stagnant water, he crossed over to Lado, 
on the other bank of the Nile, and there established 
the seat of his government. The storm which had 
broken out at the time of his arrival seemed now to 
have subsided into a calm ; hostilities had been over- 
come, and the Soudan was so far conquered as to be 
held by about a dozen military outposts stationed 
along the Nile from Lake No to Lakes Albert and 
Ibrahim. 

In 1876 Gordon went back to Cairo. Nevertheless, 
although he was wearied with the continual struggle of 
the past two years, worn down by the incessant labours 
of internal organisation and geographical investiga- 
tions, disheartened, too, by the jealousies, rivalries, 
and intrigues of all around him, and by the ill feeling 
of the very people whom the Khedive's Government 
had sent to support him, he consented to return again 
to his post ; this time with the title of Governour-Gen- 
eral of the Soudan, Darfoor, and the Equatorial Pro- 
vinces. At the beginning of 1877 he took possession 



GORDON GOVERNOUR-GENERAL. 23 

of the Government palace at Khartoom, at the gate of 
which, eight years afterwards, so dire a tragedy was 
destined to be performed. 

Egyptian authority, allied with European civilisa- 
tion, appeared now at length to be taking some hold 
on the various districts, and the Cairo government 
might begin to look forward to a time when it could 
reckon on some reward for its labours and sacrifices. 

The area of the new Egyptian Soudan had now be- 
come immense. Geographically, its centre included 
the entire valley of the Nile proper, from Berber to 
the great lakes ; on the east were such portions of the 
valleys of the Blue Nile and Atbara as lay outside 
Abyssinia ; and on the west were the districts watered 
j^,tht Bahr-el-G nazal and the Bahr-el-Arab, right 
away te #ie confines of Wadai*. Politically, it con- 
sisted of Upper Nubia, the ancient island of Meroe, 
Sennaar, Baggara, Kordofan, Darfoor, Chekka, Dar- 
Ferteet, the lands of the Shillook, Nueir, Dinka, 
Bongo, Bari, Latooka, Madi, and Aloori, with the 
northern part of Unyoro. 

The dream of Me he met Ali was in a measure real- 
ised. The foundations of a great Soudanese empire 
under Egyptian rnle had been laid upon the Upper 
Nile, and the little fishing village which the first con- 
queror, with far-seeing augury, had destined for its 
capital, had grown into a flourishing town, with a pop- 
ulation of more than 45,000, and was the seat of gov- 
ernment and the general trade-centre of the entire re- 
gion. 

Unfortunately in 1879 Ismail Pasha was deposed, 
and, to the grievous loss of the Soudan, Gordon was 
recalled. As the immediate consequence, the country 
fell back into the hands of Turkish pashas; apathy, 
disorder, carelessness, and ill feeling reappeared at 
Khartoom, and the Arab slave-dealers, who had for a 
period been kept under by Baker, Gessi, and Gordon, 
came once more to the front. 

It is only too obvious that the slave-trade must for 
a long time be the great obstacle to any true progress 
in the Soudan, preventing its taking its own proper 
part in the movement which will ultimately result in 
its civilisation. The Arab merchants, to the present 
day, consider the traffic in slaves to be perfectly legit- 



24 REVOLT OF THE SOtlbAN. 

imate, and detest not only the Egyptian government, 
but especially the European officers in its employ, for 
obstructing their operations, seizing their boats, lib- 
erating the negroes, and otherwise damaging their 
abominable trade. This detestation is made mani- 
fest on every conceivable occasion. 

Year after year had Gordon, as Governour-General, 
to deal with the hordes of Arab slave-dealers ; and al- 
though he succeeded in suppressing their rebellions 
and punishing their misdoings, he was never able to 
quench the spirit of revolt, which, nurtured by fanati- 
cism and hatred to the infidel, secretly brooded under- 
neath all outward appearance of submission, keeping 
up amongst them the hope that some accident would 
open up for them an opportunity to overthrow the ad- 
ministration which they hated, and bring back the old 
regime, under which they could continue their nefari- 
ous practices free and uncontrolled. 

It was Raouf Pasha who, in 1879, succeeded Gordon 
as Governour-General. He had three Europeans as 
his subordinates — Emin Bey, who, before Gordon left, 
had been placed in charge of the province of the equa- 
tor : Lupton Bey, an Englishman, who had followed 
Gessi as Governour on the Bakr-el-Ghazal ; and Slatin 
Bey, an Austrian, in command at Darfoor. 

Raouf had barely been two years at Khartoom when 
the Mahdi appeared on the scene. 



CHAPTER II. 

REVOLT OF THE SOUDAN. 

The Mahdi, his programme and military successes — Disaster of Hicks Pasha 
— Osman Digna and engagements near Suakim — English intervention — 
Gordon at Brussels; starts for Khartoom — Hesitation of England— Fur- 
ther success of the Mahdi — Capture of Berber — Blockade and siege of 
Khartoom— Organisation of relief expedition under LordWolseley — En- 
gagements at Aboo-Klea and Metammeh— Fall of Khartoom and death of 
Gordon. 

Prompted either by personal ambition or by relig- 
ious hatred, the idea of playing the part of " Mahdi" 
had been acted upon by many an Arab fanatic. Such 
an idea, at an early age, had taken possession of a 



THE MAHDl's PROCLAMATION. 25 

certain Soudanese of low birth, a native of Dongola,. 
by name Mohammed Ahmed. Before openly aspiring 
to the role of the regenerator of Islam he had filled 
several subordinate engagements, notably one under 
Dr. Peney, the French surgeon-general in the Soudan, 
who died in 1861. Shortly afterwards he received ad- 
mittance into the powerful order of the Ghelani der- 
vishes, and then commenced his schemes for stirring 
up a revolution in defence of his creed. His proceed- 
ings did not fail to attract the attention of Gessi Pasha, 
who had him arrested at Chekka and imprisoned for 
five months. 

Under the government of Raouf he took up his 
abode upon the small island of Abba, on the Nile 
above Khartoom, where he gained a considerable no- 
toriety by the austerity of his life and by the fervour 
of his devotions, thus gradually gaining a high reputa- 
tion for sanctity. Not only offerings but followers 
streamed in from every quarter. He became rich as 
well as powerful, and married a large number of wives, 
whom he took care to select from the most influential 
families of the country, principally from those of the 
opulent slave-dealers in Kordofan and Baggara. 

Waiting till May 1881, he then assumed that a pro- 
pitious time had arrived for the realisation of his plans, 
and accordingly had himself publicly proclaimed as 
'■' Mahdi," inviting every fakir and every religious 
leader of Islam to come and join him at Abba. 

So skilfully was his proclamation conceived that it 
could hardly fail to attract to him a large number of 
adherents. From a religious point of view, he fasci- 
nated his devotees by his announcement of the immi- 
nent fulfilment of prophecies, always popular, declar- 
ing the destined supremacy of the reformed religion of 
Mahomet. In a socialist aspect, he secured the sym- 
pathy of the disinherited classes by promises of uni- 
versal equality and community of goods. On the 
other hand, he attracted the good-will and support of 
the traders by reminding them of the tyranny and ra- 
pacity of the officials of the Egyptian Treasury, and 
by declaring that, although it was tabooed by an Euro- 
pean Governour, the traffic in slaves was perfectly 
legitimate. Finally, he appealed to the nationality 
of all classes of the Soudanese, and exhorted them to 



26 REVOLT OF THE SOUDAN. 

rise in insurrection against the invaders, and to fight 
for the independence of their country. 

Convinced that it was impolitic to tolerate any 
longer the revolutionary intrigues of such an advent- 
urer at the very gates of Khartoom, Raouf Pasha re- 
solved to rid the country of Mohammed and to send 
him to Cairo for trial. An expedition was accordingly 
despatched to the island of Abba, but unfortunately 
the means employed were inadequate to the task. 
Only a small body of black soldiers was sent to arrest 
the agitator in his quarters, and they, inspired no 
doubt by a vague and superstitious dread of a man 
who represented himself as the messenger of Allah, 
wavered and acted with indecision. Before their of- 
ficers could rally them to energy, the Mahdi, with a 
fierce train of followers, knife in hand, rushed upon 
them, and killing many, put the rest to flight ; 
then, seeing that a renewed assault was likely to 
be made, he withdrew the insurgent band into a re- 
treat of safety amongst the mountains of Southern 
Kordofan. Henceforth revolt was openly declared. 
Such was the condition of things in August 1881. 

Chase was given, but every effort to secure the per- 
son of the pretended prophet was baffled. A further 
attempt was made to arrest him by the Mudir of Fas- 
hocla with 1500 men, only to be attended with a still 
more melancholy result. After a desperate struggle 
the Mudir lay stretched upon the ground, his soldiers 
murdered all around him. One single officer, with a 
few straggling cavalry, escaped the massacre, and re- 
turned to report the fatal news. 

The reverse caused an absolute panic in Khartoom, 
an intense excitement spreading throughout the Sou- 
dan. 

" The Governour-General " — so writes M. Yossion, 
the French consul at Khartoom — "perfectly terror- 
stricken, telegraphed to Cairo for reinforcements, and 
his request was urgently supported by all the European 
consuls. On the 23d of December a telegram from 
the Khedive announced that reinforcements had been 
granted, and it was stated, moreover, that Abdellal 
Bey's negro regiment had received orders to start ; but 
the military party, then all-powerful (it was just the 
time in which Arabi's pronunciamento appeared) , be- 



THE MADHl's PROGRESS. 27 

lieving that it was a mere pretext for packing off some 
of the compromised troops out of the way into the Sou- 
dan, flatly refused to allow Abdellal Bey and his men 
to go. In this way the Soudan was left to shift for 
itself." 

Meantime the Mahdi's prestige was ever on the in- 
crease, and he soon felt sufficiently strong to assume 
the offensive. His troops overran Kordofan and Sen- 
naar, advancing on the one hand to the town of Sen- 
naar, which the}^ set on fire, and on the other to El- 
Obeid, which they placed in a state of siege. In the 
following July a fresh and more powerful expedition, 
this time numbering 6000 men, under the command of 
Yussuf Pasha, left Fashoda and made towards the 
Mahdi's headquarters. It met with no better fate 
than the expeditions that had gone before. Unable to 
withstand the impetuous cavalry charge of the Baggara 
rebels, it was cut to pieces on the battlefield, all the 
wounded being massacred and the prisoners beheaded. 

The way to Khartoom lay open. There the con- 
fusion and dismay were beyond description. Dread- 
ing an immediate attack from the rebels, the Gov- 
ernment in all haste threw up fortifications, and 
despatched still more urgent demands to Cairo for 
assistance, making no concealment of the critical sit- 
uation in which the 11,000 Christian inhabitants of 
the town and its garrison of 6000 soldiers were placed. 
But Cairo was powerless to make any effective move- 
ment. 

And then it was that the English Government, dis- 
cerning danger for Egypt in this insurrection of Islam, 
set to work to act for the Khedive. It told off 11,000 
men, and placed them under the command of Hicks 
Pasha, an officer in the Egyptian service who bad 
made the Abyssinian campaign. At the end of De- 
cember 1882 this expedition embarked at Suez for Su- 
akim, crossed the desert, reached the Nile at Berber, 
and after much endurance on the way, arrived at Khar- 
toom. 

Before this, El-Obeid had fallen into the Mahdi's 
power, and there he had taken up his head-quarters. 
Some trifling advantages were gained by Hicks, but 
having entered Kordofan with the design of retak- 
ing El-Obeid, he was, on the 5th of November 1883, 



28 REVOLT OE THE SOTJDAH. 

hemmed in amongst the Kasghil passes, and after three 
days' heroic fighting, his army of about 10,000 men 
was overpowered by a force five or six times their 
superior in numbers, and completely exterminated. 
Hicks Pasha himself, his European staff, and many 
Egyptian officers of high rank, were among the dead, 
and forty-two guns fell into the hands of the enemy. 
Again, not a man was left to carry the fatal tidings 
to Khartoom. 

Rebellion continued to spread. After being agitated 
for months, the population of the Eastern Soudan also 
made a rising. Osman Digna, the foremost of the 
Mahdi's lieutenants, occupied the road between Suakim 
and Berber, and surrounded Sinkat and Tokar ; then, 
having destroyed, one after another, two Egyptian 
columns that had been despatched for the relief of 
these towns, he finally cut off the communication be- 
tween Khartoom and the Red Sea. The tide of insur- 
rection by this time had risen so high that it threatened 
not only to overthrow the Khedive's authority in the 
Soudan, but to become the source of serious peril to 
Egypt itself. 

The English Government was consulted, and gave 
the advice that the Egyptian Government should re- 
lieve the beleaguered garrisons, and retiring as quickly 
as possible from the districts threatened by the Mahcli, 
should concentrate its forces in the rear of Wacly 
Haifa at the second cataract. Promise of the assist- 
ance of English troops was held out, if this line of de- 
fence should in its turn be threatened. 

Added to this, Colonel Coetlogon, who had been 
sent by the Khedive to Khartoom under a commission 
to report upon the condition of the town, recommended 
a speedy retreat. According to his account, a third 
of the soldiers in the garrison were disaffected, the 
whole of the soldiers were on the worst terms with the 
population, and the entire situation was most critical. 
Moreover, unless the retreat were made at once, it 
would before long become impracticable, and great 
disaster must ensue. 

Thus compelled by stress of circumstances, the 
Khedive's Government adopted the resolution of con- 
C2ntrating at Khartoom all their troops that were dis- 
persed over the Soudan, and of ultimately evacuating 



INCREASING DIFFICULTIES. 29 

the town ; but at the same time an intimation was 
forwarded to the English Government warning them 
of the immense difficulties that were involved in the 
execution of the measures which were being under- 
taken in conformity with their advice. Where was 
the man who would volunteer to conduct so hazardous 
a retreat, through a district given over to revolt and 
overrun by bands of rebels? Who was there in all 
the Soudan of sufficient influence to negotiate with the 
Mahdi, and to secure some guarantee of safety or 
some facilities by which the retreat could be accom- 
plished? Raouf Pasha, who, with unwarrantable in- 
justice, had been held responsible for former reverses, 
had been recalled a year ago ; and Abd-el-Kader, who 
had succeeded him, had not been in any respect more 
fortunate, and was, moreover, quite bewildered by the 
complication of dangers which continued to increase. 

And now it was that England bethought herself of 
the versatile and famous general who once before for 
four years had held rule in the Soudan, gaining an 
uniform popularity alike with the European residents 
and the natives of the place. For the second time 
Gordon Pasha should appear upon the scene. 

Since 1879, when he had been called upon to resign 
the Governour-Generalship of the Soudan, Gordon had 
successively occupied posts in India as secretary to 
the Viceroy; in China, where he settled the dispute 
about Kashgar between Russia and the Celestial Em- 
pire ; in Mauritius, where he had been the very life- 
spring of British influence ; at Suez, whither he went 
to meet his brave and devoted friend Gessi, who died 
there of fever in March 1881 ; and at the Cape, where 
he had been entrusted with the settlement of the 
Basuto-land question. 

On the 1st of January 1884 he arrived at Brussels, 
having been summoned by a telegram from the King 
of the Belgians, which reached him at Jerusalem while 
he was making a pilgrimage in Palestine. The King 
at once gave him an audience, and explained to him 
that, as patron of the Congo Association, he was 
anxious to renew negotiations that had been opened 
some years previously, and that he had sent for him 
to induce him to go to Africa and to share with Stan- 
ley the mission of introducing European influence into 



30 REVOLT OF THE SOUDAN. 

the districts aloDg the upper part of the river. Ifc was 
a task altogether in unison with Gordon's tastes, and 
he did not hesitate to accept it, undertaking to be 
ready to set out by the steamer on the 6th of Febru- 
ary so as to arrive at Vivi as soon as possible to re- 
lieve Stanley, who for some months past had been 
applying for leave to return to Europe. 

But although it was thus arranged that Gordon should 
go to Africa, his destination was to be elsewhere than 
on the Congo. 

Returning for a brief visit to England to take fare- 
well of his sister and friends, he was u interviewed" 
at Southampton by one of the staff of the Pall Mall 
Gazette, which was forthwith published with a sensa- 
tional article containing Gordon's views on the Egyp- 
tian difficulty with the Soudan, a subject which was 
very near to his heart, and of which there was no one 
more capable of forming a practical judgment than 
himself. 

Again in Brussels, on the 16th of January, he was 
suddenly recalled to England by a despatch from the 
Government at home. On the following day he sub- 
mitted to King Leopold the fact that he had been sum- 
moned to go to the Soudan that he might, if possible, 
effect the deliverance of the Egyptian troops, making 
no concealment of his sentiments that n, soldier's first 
duty was to his own country, when it appealed to his 
devotion. The king at once released him from his en- 
gagement. 

Not*an hour was lost. On the evening of the 18th 
he left Charing Cross station, where he was attended 
by the Duke of Cambridge, Lord Granville, and Lord 
Wolseley, and reached Cairo on the 24th. On the 
second day after his arrival, refusing all escort and 
accompanied only by his adjutant, Colonel Stewart, 
he started for Khartoom by the quickest possible route, 
along the Nile to Korosko, and thence by camel-ride 
across the desert to Berber. Exactly one month after 
quitting London, on the 18th of February, he came 
within sight of Khartoom, where he was hailed by the 
population as a deliverer, and entered the town amidst 
the wildest enthusiasm. 

From the very first moment of his entry he displayed 
the most prodigious energy ; he held public audiences ; 



Gordon's proclamation. 31 

he instituted a council of notables ; he visited the pris 
ons, where for years some hundred wretches, most of 
them unjustly, had been huddled together in the most 
abject misery ; he administered justice ; he provisioned 
the white troops at Omdurman, on the left bank of 
the Nile ; he entrusted the defence of Khartoom to the 
Soudanese regiments ; he abolished tolls and remitted 
payment of arrears of taxes ; he placed boxes in vari- 
ous quarters of the town for the reception of claims 
and complaints, and finally issued a proclamation an- 
nouncing that henceforward the Soudau would be in- 
dependent, and recognising as legitimate that slavery 
which, according to a former decree of the Khedive, 
had been definitely prohibited, from November 1889, 
through all the districts between Assouan and the great 
lakes. 

Great was the consternation excited by the latter 
clause of this announcement. It was interpreted as 
the official re-establishment of the slave traffic and re- 
garded as a scandal b}^ Europe, where it seems to be 
imperfectly realised that domestic slavery has from 
time immemorial existed, and will continue to exist 
for a long period yet to come, in spite of all the de- 
crees in the world. It is obvious that if Gordon were 
to fulfil his object of evacuating the Soudan, there 
must of necessity be involved an acquiescence in this 
kind of slavery, and therefore it is altogether beside 
the mark for the European philanthropists to criticise 
his words without regard to the practical view of the 
case. 

Months elapsed. There was a continuous inter- 
change of despatches between the defender of Khar- 
toom and the English Cabinet in London, carried on 
by the intervention of Sir Evelyn Baring, the British 
representative at Cairo. They bear evidence of the 
indecision of the Government as to the course to be 
pursued. The questions were various and complicated. 
Should an effort be made to retain the Soudan at any 
price? Should it be entirely abandoned? Should any 
of the equatorial provinces be reserved for civilisation ? 
No one seemed competent to give an answer or sug- 
gest a policy. So involved and disorderly was the 
state of affairs that even Gordon himself, with the best 
opportunity of forming an opinion, does not appear to 



32 REVOLT OF THE SOUDAN. 

have bad altogether settled views as to what was 
best. At first he declared his intention of presenting 
himself personally in the camp of the Mahdi, and of 
seeking to negotiate with him directly terms upon 
which the western provinces might be definitely sur- 
rendered. He was forbidden, however, by the author- 
ities at home to persevere in this step, because, it was 
alleged, it would entail serious political inconveniences. 

He next demanded that after the withdrawal of the 
Egyptian troops the office of Governour-General should 
be conferred on Zebehr Pasha, formerly a merchant in 
the Bahr-el-Ghazal, and the father of Suleiman Zebehr, 
who had been taken and executed by Gessi. This 
Zebehr, then in confinement in Egypt, Gordon be- 
lieved was the only man to be found with anything 
like sufficient influence to counterbalance the power of 
the Mahdi ; he was a direct descendant of the Abba 
sides, and had obtained a high reputation all through 
the country. This proposition was rejected by the 
English Cabinet, notwithstanding Sir Evelyn Baring's 
approval of it, on the ground that public opinion 
would not tolerate its being carried into effect. As 
matter of fact, u the Anti-Slavery Society " indignantly 
protested against the idea of either seeking or accept- 
ing the co-operation of one who had been so actively 
concerned in the slave traffic. 

Eailing thus to obtain authority to execute his mis- 
sion by means of the only men in the Soudan who 
were able to assist his purpose, Gordon appealed for 
foreign intervention. He asked that 200 English 
soldiers should be sent to TTady Haifa, for the simple 
sake of showing that he was really supported by Eu- 
ropean military influence ; he likewise advised that 
the route between Suakim and Berber, which was still 
occupied by Osman Digna, should be reopened by the 
employment of Indian troops. 

No reply came to his application, and Gordon al- 
most began to think himself forsaken by those who 
had sent him out. He next proposed, without further 
delay, to move all the troops and the Egyptian officials 
to Berber, under the command of Colonel Stewart ; 
and feeling that his presence would then be no longer 
requisite at Khartoom, he tendered his resignation, 
intimating his own intention of retiring, with the steain- 



ADVANCE OF THE REBELS. 33 

ers, ammunition, and Soudanese troops, to the prov- 
inces of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Equator (then un- 
der the government of Lupton Bey and Emin Bey) , 
and placing them under the protection of the King of 
the Belgians, whose possessions on the Congo were 
adjacent. 

" Quick ! " wrote Gordon on the 11th of March 1884 
— " Quick, or we shall be blockaded." 

Sir Ev-elyn Baring could only answer that the Eng- 
lish Government were not contemplating any military 
movement, at the same time making Gordon under- 
stand that he must manage to remain at Khartoom, 
and that under no pretext whatever was he to betake 
himself to the south. 

Thus time was lost ; and while all this tedious cir- 
cumlocution was going on, the power of the .Mahdi 
and the number of his partisans were being continually 
augmented ; the circle of the rebels was drawing in, 
closer and closer, around the town, and Osman Digna 
was still holding the Red Sea ro ite, having on the 
11th of February worsted Valentine Baker at Trinkinat 
and slaughtered more than 2000 of his men, and sub- 
sequently captured both ^inkat and Tokar. Some 
bloody successes, indeed, were gained by General 
Graham at Teb on February 29th, and at Tamanieh 
on March 13th, but they were altogether futile in dis- 
placing Osman from the mastery of the road. 

The advances of the Mahdi's people towards Khar- 
toom became more and more daring. On March 12th 
the town was completely invested. Four days later a 
sally was made by a bevy of troops, but they were be- 
trayed by five of their officers, and, stricken with 
panic, fell back in confusion and with considerable 
loss. Thenceforward the place was exposed to con- 
tinual assaults from the besiegers ; the blockade be- 
came closer, and soon the bombardment was almost 
incessant, shells falling into the centre of the town, 
though without doing serious damage or creating much 
alarm. 

On the 27th of April the outlying station of Mesa- 
limmeh, with all its ammunition and a steamer, made 
a surrender. At the end of May Berber fell into the 
hands of the enemy, whereby all communication be- 
tween Egypt and the Soudan was interrupted. There, 



34 REVOLT OF THE SOUDAN. 

was no longer any question about evacuating Khar- 
toom. The sole consideration was by what means to 
rescue its defenders. 

Impossible was it for England any longer to remain 
a passive looker-on ; the demand for military interfer- 
ence was imperative. The voice of the press, enforc- 
ing public opinion, cried vehemently for the deliver- 
ance of Gordon, and the British Government decided 
upon sending out an expedition of relief. Parliament 
voted £300,000 towards the expenses, and Lord Wol- 
seley, the hero of Tel-el-Kebir, was appointed Com- 
mander-in-Chief, and started for Egypt, where his 
forces arrived during August 1884. 

There had been no cessation of the fighting at Khar- 
toom ; for months not a day had passed without a 
skirmish. The garrison soon reckoned a loss of 700 
men. During an attack upon Gatarneb upon the 10th 
of July, Saati Bey, one of Gordon's bravest associ- 
ates, was killed, with three of his officers, while Colonel 
Stewart, who took part in the engagement, escaped 
only with the utmost difficulty. 

Hope now began to flag and misgivings to arise lest 
help should not arrive in time. As a consequence, 
symptoms of disaffection became too apparent, not only 
amongst the besieged troops, but especially amongst 
the Egyptian officers. 

Military matters in Lower Egypt were pressed for- 
ward with all possible despatch. Portable steamers 
and whale-boats manned by Canadians, accustomed to 
their own rapids, were launched upon the Nile. The 
expeditionary forces, composed of picked troops and a 
volunteer camel corps, were not long in starting, and 
Lord Wolseley, with his staff, arrived at Wady Haifa 
on the 5th of October. The first cataract was passed, 
and by the beginning of December the advanced guard 
reached Debbah, forty miles from Dongola. 

By the end of the month an entrenched camp was 
formed at Korti, and from thence were despatched two 
columns — one, under General Earla along the river, to 
entice the enemy towards Berber ; the other, under Gen- 
eral Sir H. Stewart, across the desert straight for Khar- 
toom, in order to assist Gordon to hold out until the 
main body of the troops should arrive, 



STEAMERS FROM KHARTOOM. 35 

So opened the fatal year 1885. The situation at 
Khartoom had become desperate. 

On the 17th of January Stewart first fell in with the 
Arabs, and gave battle at the wells of Abou-Klea, 
which were defended by 7000 of the Mahdi's men, 
against 1350 under the English general. At the out- 
set the engagement was indecisive, but ultimately the 
Arabs were out-manoeuvred, and the column proceeded 
on its march. The next day a second battle took 
place at Metammeh, where Stewart was killed, with 
several of his leading officers, as well as Messrs. Her- 
bert and Cameron, the correspondents respectively of 
the Morning Post and Standard newspapers. 

The command of the column devolved upon Colonel 
Wilson. Notwithstanding its heav} 7 losses, it was still 
victorious, and continued its way, reaching El Gooba 
the same evening, where it entrenched. This was on 
the Nile, about seventy-five miles below Khartoom. 
It had been a forced march, skilfully conducted and 
brilliantly accomplished ; but the end seemed in view, 
and the courage and energy of the British soldiers rose 
nobly to the occasion. 

On the 23d four iron-plated steamers hove in sight. 
What could these be? and whence and for what pur- 
pose had they come ? The explanation w 7 as not far off ; 
Gordon had sent them from Khartoom. Although the 
town had been besieged for months, the assailants con- 
tinually increasing in numbers and ferocity, it still held 
its own. The Mahdi had taken up his position before 
its gates, superintending the operations of the siege, 
and himself leading an attack upon the entrenched 
camp at Omdurman, in which, although he was re- 
pulsed, he took one of his adversary's boats. Gordon, 
however, did not give in ; with a presence of mind that 
never failed, he persevered in facing every clanger 
from without, whilst all along he had perpetually to 
be upon his guard against the inertness and still w T orse, 
the treacherous spirit of mutiny of a portion of his own 
troops. And now the announcement came that the 
long-looked-for succour was at hand ; he would hasten 
to send some recognition of its advance, and accord- 
ingly he sent out, laden with provisions, the four steam- 
ers that had appeared in view. 

Without losing time, Sir C. Wilson and Colonel 



30 REVOLT OF THE SOUDAN. 

Stewart, with twenty men of the Sussex regiment, em- 
barked on two of these steamers, and on the next day- 
left the entrenchments at El Gooba and started for 
Khartoom. It was a time of deep suspense. On the 
28th they came in sight of the beleagured town. All 
was silence. There was no sound nor sign of welcome. 
Uneasy and in bewilderment, they at once hove to, but 
only to find themselves under a close fire from the ram- 
parts, over which, floating from the Government pal- 
ace, was seen the green banner of the Maclhi. 

Too late ! The relief had indeed come too late. Eight- 
and- forty hours before, Khartoom had been surrendered 
by treachery to the rebels ; the great and blameless hero 
was dead, shot down under the acacias of the Govern- 
ment buildings, on his way to the Austrian Consul's, 
to take his last farewell of his good friend Hansal. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCES. 

The land of rivers — The Bongo— The Dinka— Roumbek— Meshraer-Rek and 
Amadi— Lupton Bey — The province of the Equator — Rapids of the Upper 
Nile — Paradise of botanists — The Makraka — The Bari — The Latooka — 
LadOj Douflle, and Wadelai — Emm Bey. 

The two most rjouthern provinces thnt had been 
brought under the dominion of Egypt, and entrusted 
to the subordinate rule of European pashas and beys, 
were those of the Bahr-el-Grhazal and of the Equator. 
The former of these had come under the command of 
Lupton Bey 9 and the latter Lad been assigned to the 
charge of Emin Bey c 

By the victorious progress of the Mahdi's bands, 
both provinces alike had been cut off fron: communi- 
cation with Khartoom, and consequently with Cairo 
and Suakim. 

The authority of the Khedive had hitherto been suf- 
ficiently maintained by the establishment of a limited 
number of fortified stations defended by small garri- 
sons, varying from 100 to 200 men. Placed alon'oj 
the watercourses in positions selected either for their 
political or strategical advantages, these stations were 



THE BAHR-EL-GHA2AT. 37 

for the most part merely enclosures protected by pali- 
sade? or by trenches, to resist any sudden outbreak 
on the part of the natives. The majority of the men 
composing the garrisons were liberated slaves belong- 
ing to the various Soudanese tribes, and were com- 
manded sometimes by Egyptian, sometimes by native 
officers. 

The province of the Bahr-el-G nazal, as its name 
implies, includes the larger portion of the basin 
watered by that important tributary of the Kile. 
Elisee Reclus was quite justified in designating it " the 
hind of rivers," inasmuch as the Gazelle, with its great 
affluents, the Kohl, the Kua, the Dyoor, the Bahr-el- 
Arab, and the countless sub-affluents which run into 
them, extends over a vast triangular area, and forms 
a perfect labyrinth of streams. The soil is exception- 
ally fertile, the flora is rich and rare, the crops are 
abundant, elephants abound in the virgin forests, and 
herds of cattle swarm in the populated parts. It may 
be avowed that there are few regions in Africa tha 
hold out greater promise for the future, when the time 
shall come for the culture of the natural products of 
the earth to supersede the traffic in flesh and blood, 
and when a systematic communication for commerce 
has been opened between its three or four millions of 
inhabitants and the civilised world. 

First amongst the explorers of the Bahr-el-Ghazal 
were the Frenchmen Peney, Lejean, and Poncet, the 
English Petherick, and the Italians Miami and Piaggia ; 
but although their discoveries were diversified and 
interesting, they must be reckoned as comparatively 
incomplete. It was Dr. Schweinfurth who could first 
lay claim to a really scientific delineation of the coun- 
try, of which his elaborate work, " The Heart of Af- 
rica," must long be regarded as the standard of geo- 
graphical knowledge. He devotes several chapters to 
the description of the various tribes, including the 
Nueir, the Agar, the Dinka, the Dyoor, the Bongo, 
the Moroo, the Galo, and the Sheir. Of these the 
most considerable are the Bongo and the Dinka. 

It was about 1850 when the Khartoomers first made 
their way among the Bongo. They found the country 
split up into small independent communities, all in a 
state of anarchy ; consequently there was little dif- 



88 THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCES. 

fioulfcy in reducing it to subjection, and in establishing 
settlements in the divided territory, so providing for 
a system of raids to secure both ivory and slaves for 
traffic. Reduced by two-thirds, the population has 
for the most part concentrated itself around the zeribas, 
where it is devoted almost exclusively to agriculture, 
contributing largely to the support of the garrisons. 

No doubt it is to the scantiness of the larger kinds 
of cattle that the Bongo, in their subjugation, owe 
much of their comparatively peaceable relations with 
"the Turks," as they ordinarily call the owners of 
the zeribas ; and the same reason may probably account 
for the feeble resistance that they made. Their do- 
mestic animals, in fact, include little beyond goats, 
dogs, and poultry. 

So essentially are they agriculturists that they may 
be said to depend entirely upon the products o*? the 
soil for their subsistence. Men and women alike 
labour in the fields, cultivating sorghum as the princi- 
pal crop, although tobacco is grown well-nigh every- 
where throughout the country. They have a singular 
aptitude for smiths' work. Iron is abundant, and al- 
most by instinct the people have learned to utilise it. 
Their tools are of the rudest description, yet they pro- 
duce a large variety of articles, such as spear-heads, 
arrows, rings, bells, buttons, clasps, pins, and knives, 
that for workmanship might compare not unfavour- 
ably with any that are made in Europe. The smelt- 
ing season commences when the harvest is^ housed and 
the rainy season is over. To their skill in the manip- 
ulation of iron must be added, although in an inferior 
degree, a certain dexterity in the carving of wood, as 
is exhibited in various utensils and articles of furni- 
ture, notably in the little four-legged stools with which 
every household is provided. 

As regards their phsyical appearance, the Bongo are 
of medium height. Their skin is of a reddish brown, 
not dissimilar in colour to that of the soil on which 
they reside. The men, ao a rule, wear nothing but a 
little apron of skin or other material attached to their 
girdle, the women contenting themselves with a leafy 
bough, or not unfrequently with a tuft of grass. Van- 
ity induces some of them to load themselves with neck- 
laces, whilst on any occasion of a feast they deck the 



THE DINKA. 39 

head with feathers, the rest of the body being entirely 
unclothed. 

North of Bongo-land lies the territory of the Dyoor, 
situated in which is the zeriba of Ghattas, one of the 
largest in the whole country. Still farther north is the 
district occupied by the Dinka, a tribe which has re- 
cently played a prominent part in the history of the 
province. 

So numerous are the Dinka, and so extensive are 
their lands, that in all probability they will continue to 
hold their own, whatever may be the confusion of the 
various tribes by which they are surrounded. They 
may be classed amongst the tallest and strongest as 
w T ell as the darkest of negro races. Tattooing is 
practised, but only by the men. The observation 
made by Barth, that many heathen tribes consider 
clothing more necessary for men than for women, is 
not applicable to them, inasmuch as, according to their 
views, any attire, however limited in quantity, is un- 
worthy of the stronger sex ; whilst, on the other hand, 
their womeB are scrupulously covered with tw T o aprons 
of skins reaching to their ankles. Jt is to be remarked 
that bows and arrows are unknown among them ; their 
most effective weapon is the lance, although the} 7 fre- 
quently arm themselves with sticks or clubs. 

The Dinka do not live in what are ordinarily known 
as villages, their dwellings consisting of small groups 
of huts scattered in farmsteads over the cultivated 
plains, the huts for the most pait being solidly built 
and spacious, frequently forty feet in diameter. The 
people are clean in their homes, and in culinary mat- 
ters better skilled than the Arabs, or even than the 
Egyptians themselves ; in fact, in the choice and prepa- 
ration of their food they are in advance of all other Af- 
rican tribes. Crocodile flesh they refuse to eat ; iguanas, 
frogs, and mice the} 7 never touch ; but, like true Euro- 
pean connoisseurs, they use the turtle for making soup ; 
the hare is considered a great delicacy. As to canni- 
balism, they would have as great a horror of it as our- 
selves. 

Their domestic animals are oxen, sheep, goats and 
dogs ; but, for some unexplained cause, they have no 
poultiy. The oxen are of the zebu kind, of small size, 
and for the most part white, or nearly white ; they are 



40 THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCES. 

brought together from separate districts into one large 
enclosure, and the sole ambition of the owner seems to 
be to increase his stock ; they are regarded with a sort 
of reverence, and whenever a Dinka has been robbed 
of one of them, either by rapine or by death, there is 
hardly any sacrifice which he is not ready to make to 
repair his loss. 

So far as regards their race, their mode of life, and 
their customs, the Dinka have all the elements of na- 
tional unity ; but they fail on account of their several 
tribes making war upon each other, and submitting to 
be enlisted as instruments' of plunder by foreign in- 
truders. Nevertheless, the Khartoomers have hitherto 
been unable to bring them into subjection. A consid- 
erable number of Dinka slaves, remarkable alike for 
their fine stature and native courage, were enlisted 
into the army of the Soudan ; and Adam Pasha, who 
in 1870 commanded the Soudan forces, was himself a 
Dinka by birth. 

Of all the zeribas established in the country by 
Khartoom traders the most important is Rouiubek, 
formerly the headquarters of an Egyptian Mudirieh. 
The population of the settlement is estimated by Dr. 
Felkin to be about 3000, whilst he further reckons the 
adjacent villages to make up an aggregate of hardly 
less than 30,000 inhabitants. It is peculiar to the 
district that the wearing of clothes is regarded as a re- 
ligious privilege, and no woman, except she is married 
to an Arab, has a right to appear with any kind of cov- 
ering whatever. A fortified post named Bor defends 
the eastern portion of the settlement. 

On the north is situated the cluster of warehouses 
known as Meshra-er-Rek (or landing-place of the Rek) , 
which is the starting-point for all caravans proceeding 
on their way to the basin of the Bahr-el-Ghazal. Up 
to the date of the recent wars a steamer from Khartoom 
periodically ascended to this point. 

South of the Dinka territory, in the country of the 
Monoo, situated amidst extensive fields of millet and 
sesame, is another important trade-centre, the fortified 
village of Amadi, on the banks of the Yei. It is one 
of the chief ivory-dep6ts ; at one time it had the am- 
biguous reputation of being the zeriba whence the ha- 
rems of Egypt and Arabia were supplied with eunuchs. 



LUPTON BEY. 41 

The first European Governour of the Bahr-el-Ghazal 
was Gessi Pasha, who in 1878, after suppressing the 
revolt of Suleiman Zebehr and purging the country of 
its hordes of slave-dealers, took up his residence, in 
the very camp of his adversary, at Dehm Suleiman, 
which has since-developed into the largest township on 
the Upper Nile. Dehm Idrees, to the east, in the Golo 
country, has also of late grown into a store of such 
proportions that at the end of 1883, when Bohndorf, 
the companion of Dr. Junker, was passing along that 
way, he was informed that the accumulated stock of 
ivory exceeded 200 tons. 

In 1881 Gessi was succeeded in the government of 
the province by Lupton Bey. 

Frank Lupton, a native of Ilford, in Essex, was 
born in 1853. Being of an adventurous nature, he en- 
tered the navy at an early age. In 1878, having been 
in command of a steamer on the Red Sea, between Sua- 
kim and Teddah, he formed a resolution that he would 
visit Central Africa. By the advice of a friend he ten- 
dered his services to Gordon, who invited him to Khar- 
toom, and there offered him the charge of a flotilla that 
was about to be sent to the relief of Emin Bey and 
Gessi Pasha, who were in the south, shut in by u the 
Sett," that notorious grass-barrier which blockades the 
Upper Nile. 

This mission r c3omplished, Lupton was associated 
with Emin in the administration of the Equator, and 
afterwards, upon Gessi's removal, was raised by the 
Khedive to the rank of Bey and appointed to the Gov- 
ernourship of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, where, such were the 
activity and intelligence that he brought to bear, he 
made that rich district, which had hitherto been a 
heavy burden to Egypt, become a source of profit, so 
that his budget for 1883 showed a surplus for the year 
of nearly £100,000. Unfortunately the events of the 
year's close put a check for an indefinite time upon 
that promise of prosperity. 

The other province — the province of the Equator — 
next demands to be described. 

Extending along both banks of the Nile from its 
egress from Lake Albert right away to La do, this in- 
cludes the northern portion of Unyoro and the territo* 



42 THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCES. 

ries of the Shooli, Madi, Bari, Latooka, Makraka, and 
Moroo. 

Travellers seem to be unanimous in representing the 
Equator province as a picturesque, fertile, well-popu- 
lated, fairly healthy, and promising reigon. Its pro- 
ductions are caoutchouc, various kinds of gum, wax, 
vegetable butter, cotton, skins, fruits, grain, and vege- 
tables, in addition to the ivory which is to be obtained 
in large abundance. Europeans can stand the climate 
provided they lead an active life, and would be even 
more likely to maintain good health if opportunities 
were secured for periodical recruiting in sanatoriums 
which might easily be erected in the hills to the south 
and east. 

From north to south the Equator is traversed by the 
Nile, receiving the Assua on the right and the Yei" on 
the left, and affording all the way from Lake Albert to 
Doufile a channel from fifteen to thirty feet deep, capa- 
ble of being navigated at all seasons by the largest 
boats. Between Doufile and Lado navigation is ar- 
rested by a succession of rapids at Fola, Yerbora, 
Gudji, Makebo, Teremo-Garbo, and Djenkoii-Garbo, 
which, although they may permit boats to be carried 
over in the time of floods, are utterly impassable when 
the water is low. 

Westward from the Nile, at some distance, the 
chain of the Blue Mountains is in sight, stretching 
towards the north, and forming the boundary of the 
Congo basin. The range is not lofty, but it presents 
a number of conspicuous peaks, which have been seA- 
erally named after Schweinfurth, Junker, Speke,Emin, 
Baker, Gordon, and GessL On its western slope are 
the sources of the Welle. Its soil gradually rises 
through the country of the Shooli and Latooka until it 
is finally overhung by granite crags elevated more than 
3000 feet above the level of the river. 

Considered as a whole, the province may be de- 
scribed as one prolonged productive valley, divided 
into broad plains rich with luxuriant pasturage for 
the innumerable flocks, studded over with forests of 
splendid growth, adorned with natural parks, where 
the trees are fine and the glades are open, and re- 
lieved ever and again by undulations, every eminence 
of which is crowned by a well-placed village. The 



THE MAKRAKA. 43 

land of the Shooli, or more especially the district of 
Fatiko, has been called " the paradise of botanists," so 
diversified and so abundant is its flora. 

Most important amongst the native tribes are the 
Makraka and Macli, on the west of th3 Nile, and the 
Bari and Latooka, on the east. 

The Makraka really belong to the powerful Niam- 
niam people, whose vast territories extend south-west- 
wards as far as the Congo basin. They are most ex- 
pert cultivators of the soil, and their substantial pros- 
perity has secured them a foremost standing amongst 
the tribes. Their courage is notorious, although a 
suspicion that they are given to cannibalism has caused 
them to be regarded with a certain degree of terror. 
When the Egyptian rulers are enlisting soldiers they 
prefer, as a rule, the Makraka to any others. 

Like the Makraka, the Madi, their neighbours on 
the same bank of the Nile, are mainly occupied in 
agriculture. They grow excellent tobacco, in addition 
to the many kinds of fruits and vegetables that have 
been introduced by Arabs and Europeans, whilst 
around their villages the fields of sesame and sorghum 
stretch away far as the eye can reach. Characterised 
by hospitality, they have ever a ready welcome for a 
stranger, and amongst them, as indeed with the Ma- 
kraka, the traveller's safety is so assured that he may 
approach them, cane in hand, with no other escort 
than his porters. 

More warlike as a tribe, the Bari soldiers are re- 
puted to be the bravest and fiercest of all the river- 
settlers along the Nileo Both Gondokoro, the first 
residence of Baker when he was Governour, and Lado, 
subsequently built by Gordon, are situated in their 
territory. It is probable that the atrocities perpetrated 
against them by the Khartoomers have inflamed their 
animosity towards the invaders of their home, as for 
a long period Gondokoro was a pandemonium, a per- 
fect den of thieves and assassins, glutted with the 
cattle and the slaves that they had carried off in plun- 
der from the surrounding parts. The arrival of Euro- 
peans happily put a limit to this state of things, but 
it must be long before the memory of the enormities 
can be entirely obliterated. 

Similarly to the Dinka in the Babr-el-GhazaL the 



44 THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCES. 

Bari in the Equator are a pastoral people, being own- 
ers of large herds of diminutive cattle ; they likewise 
regard the cow with a species of reverence, and, like 
the Dinka too, they go unclothed, esteeming the wear- 
ing of any garment a degradation of masculine dignity. 
The French traveller, Peney, observes that they have 
a dread of clothing, and relates of himself that in 
order to secure a good reception at their hands he was 
obliged to divest himself of every garment. As a 
rule, no doubt, they are a fine race of men, remark- 
able for well-proportioned limbs and for dignity of 
carriage. Their villages and the interior of their huts 
are models of cleanliness, the huts very frequently 
having granaries attached, made of wicker, protected 
by thatch, and raised upon a kind of platform. 

Away to the west dwell the Latooka, a tribe which 
in the opinion of most travellers is of Galla origin. 
Ravenstein remarks that their dialect resembles that 
of the Masai*. Baker, during his residence amongst 
them, visited several of their largest villages, and con- 
siders that the people are the finest savages he ever 
met with ; their average height is six feet, their physi- 
ognomy is pleasant, and in comparison with neigh- 
bouring tribes their manners are polished. They are 
open-hearted, cheerful, and always ready for a laugh. 

A peculiarity of the tribe that arrests attention is the 
coiffure of the men. It is arranged in the form of a 
helmet, and is most delicately manipulated with bur- 
nished copper and bits of red and blue glass, inter- 
mixed with shells, and surmounted by a plume of 
ostrich feathers. European ladies might be astonished 
to learn that a period of eight or ten years is scarcely 
sufficient for the arrangement and adorning of a 
Latooka's hair. 

Tarrangoie, the capital of the country, was also 
visited by Baker. It is quite a town, and at that time 
contained 3000 houses. Not only was the whole place 
environed by a palisade of iron-wood, but separate 
dwellings were protected by small fortified enclosures 
of their own, and raised platforms three stories high 
were erected at intervals to serve as watch-towers 
whence sentinels might give alarm in time of danger. 

With the Latooka, as with the Dinka and the Bari, 
cattle is the staple of their wealth, and thousands of 



• IMTORTANT STATIONS. 45 

heads may be seen around every important village ; 
they are kept in huge kraals. A Latooka's main pos- 
sessions are his wives and his oxen ; of these, in time 
of battle, he will make languid efforts to protect the 
former, in contrast with the desperate energy with 
which he will defend the latter. 

It is in the Equator province that the exertions of 
European Governours have attained the best and ap- 
parently the most lasting success ; here it was that 
Baker, Gordon, and Emin alike established many civ- 
ilising centres, the majority of which are still in exist- 
ence. Lado, the station by which Gondokoro was re- 
placed as the Governour's residence, is quite a good- 
looking town ; its buildings are of brick, roofed with 
iron, and it boasts an ample quay and promenade . 
Redjaf , Bedden, and Kirri lie to the south, all of them 
on the left bank of the river. 

Several fortified settlements have been made among 
the Madi, the foremost being Doufile, in an excellent 
strategic and commercial position, a little above the 
confluence of the Assua. This is the extreme point 
which steamers can reach from Lake Albert and the 
Upper Nile, as farther progress is barred by the Fola 
rapids. Below the rapids, on the river-bank, are the 
small forts of Lahore* and Muggi. 

There are also several important stations in the dis- 
trict of the Shooli. On the bank of the river is Wadelai', 
which for the last two }^ears has been occupied instead 
of Lado as the abode of the Governour, and which will 
henceforth be associated with the name of Emin Bey. 
In the interior are Fatibek, to the east of Doufile ; 
Faloro, a populous mart, one of the granaries of the 
Egyptian Soudan ; and Fatiko, in the heart of a pic- 
turesque and healthy country. 

Formerly the Egyptians had a settlement in the 
north of Unyoro, inhabited by the Lango tribe, named 
Foweira, w r hich they abandoned ; but they still retain 
Magungo, in a situation overlooking the spot where 
the Nile, after forming the imposing Murchison Falls, 
flows into Lake Albert. In the Aloori country, on the 
western shore of the lake, they have Mahagi, near 
which are some hot sulphur springs ; and at a consid- 
erable distance to the west, in the middle of the Ma- 
kraka country, close to the sources of the Yei, are the 



40 THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCES. 

two small outposts of Uandi and Makraki-Sougaire. 
All these stations owe their establishment to Baker or 
Gordon, Englishmen, or to Emin, the German, who 
have successively been Governours since 1872. 

Emin Effendi, whom Gordon, on leaving the Soudan 
in 1879, raised to the rank of Bey, and placed in 
charge of the province of the Equator, was born at 
Oppeln, in Prussian Silesia, on the 28th of March 1840. 
His real name is Edward Schnitzel 1 . After completing 
his studies at Berlin, Vienna, and Paris, and having 
obtained the degree of doctor both in medicine and in 
natural science, he went in 1869 to Albania, where he 
found an engagement in the Ottoman service at Scu- 
tari. Some years later, when Gordon assumed the 
government of the Soudan, Dr. Schnitzer, under the 
name of Emin Effendi, accompanied him as medical 
officer, and never failed to distinguish himself in any 
business that was entrusted to him. Under commis- 
sion of the Governour, he was sent to Mtesa, king of 
Uganda, and to Kabrega, king of Unyoro, and suc- 
ceeded in securing them both as allies. In all his ex- 
peditions he diligently made scientific notes, the sub- 
stance of which appeared at intervals between 1878 and 
1883 in the tw Mittheilungen " of the Geographical In- 
stitute of Gotha. 

Under his administration the province of the Equa- 
tor went on well. He assiduously continued the work 
that Gordon had begun, opening fresh communications, 
making new settlements, stimulating the industry of 
the population, and securing their support in the sup- 
pression of abuses. Last but not least, he was suc- 
cessful in gaining for the Egyptian Government a sur- 
plus revenue where hitherto there had been only a 
deficit. 

In a letter to Dr. Felkin at Edinburgh in 1883, Emin 
Bey said that although for some } r ears he had not re- 
ceived any assistance from Khartoom, yet he had perse- 
vered in insisting on the cultivation of cotton, indigo, 
sugar-cane, and rice, and had established numerous 
farms for ostrich-breeding and cattle-breaking ; and 
that, in spite of the heavy outlay entailed by the form- 
ation of new roads, his budget for 1880 showed for the 
first time a surplus of £8000. " If only," he added, "I 
could get a few Europeans to support me, and a small 




EMIN PASHA. 



JUNKER AND CAS ATI. 47 

subsidy for the purchase of seed and agricultural im- 
plements, I have not the slightest doubt that in four or 
five years I could realise an annual profit of £20,000, 
exclusive of ivory, which is the monopoly of the Gov- 
ernment." 

Such were the hopes he cherished. The disastrous 
events at Khartoom checked them all. From the first 
Emm had his forebodings. In March 1882 he went 
to Khartoom to put Raouf Pasha on his guard, and 
even offered to go and try to conciliate the Mahdi 
in a personal interview ; his alarm was regarded as 
exaggerated, his proposal was declined, and he was 
instructed to return to his post and to do his utmost 
for the interests of the province. He left Khartoom 
on the 15th of June, not again to return. 

Results have demonstrated how great was the error 
of distrusting his far-sightedness ; it was a mistake 
not to attempt, while perhaps there was still time, to 
avert catastrophe by inn king use of his talents for 
negotiation. 



CHAPTER IV. 



JUNKER AND CASATI. 



The Welle — Biography and travels of Dr. Junker — The Niam-niam — Dr. 
Junker and the Niam-m»m chiefs — Captain Casati — The Monbuttoo — Can- 
nibalism — Dr. Junker in the Aruwimi basin and at Ali-Kobo's zeriba — 
Bad news from the north — Junker and Casati with Emin Bey at Lado. 

Emin Bey and Lupton Bey were not the only Euro- 
peans who were blocked in the heart of Africa by the 
Mahdi's victories. At that period the Russian, Dr. 
Junker, and Captain Casati, the Italian, were still 
farther south, investigating the basin of the Welle. 

The Welle is the name given in its upper course to 
the most important of the right-hand tributaries of 
the Congo ; it is a powerful stream, which, in length 
and volume, may be compared to the Danube ; it re- 
ceives nearly all the water from the region situated 
between the northern Congo and the ridge-line whence 
the Bahr-el-Ghazal, the Shary, the Benwe, and their 
several affluents take their source. 

As the result of the explorations of recent years its 



48 THE WELLE. 

upper section is beginning to be fairly well known. 
It lias been ascertained that, under the name of the 
Kibbi, it has its source on the western slope of the 
low range of the Blue Mountains, somewhat to the 
west of Wadela'i ; that it then flows from east to west 
for nearly 1000 miles, taking a slight curve, and being 
parallel to the Congo. Amongst many affluents, the 
principal are the Garamba, the Dura, the Bomokandi, 
the Werre, the Mbima, and the_ Mbomo. 

What becomes of the Welle after its confluence 
with the last of the above tributaries must as yet be 
held as an open question. Various solutions have 
been suggested during the last fifteen years. It has 
been stated that it finds an outlet into the Sliary, into 
the Ogoowe, or into the Amy i mi ; it lias been asserted 
that it flows into a Lake Liba, the existence of which 
Is enigmatical, a second Lake Tchad ; and finally, it 
has been maintained that it joins the Itimbiri and the 
Mongalla, inferior affluents of the Congo. A conclu- 
sive answer to the question has still to be awaited ; 
future observation can alone decide ; nevertheless geog- 
raphers are now almost unanimous in accepting the 
hypothesis promulgated nearly three years since by 
the writer of this volume, which would identify the 
Welle of Schweinfurth and Junker with the mighty 
Wbangi, whose confluence with the Congo a little south 
of the Equator the Belgian Captain Hanssens was the 
first to discover, and which was ascended by Grenfell, 
a missionary from England, beyond the Zungo rapids. 
"It may fairly be believed," says M. Elis6e Reclus, 
"that the Welle continues to flow from east to west 
below its confluence with the Mbomo, and that, after 
describing a southwesterly curve parallel to the Congo, 
it joins the Wbangi about 250 miles from the spot 
where Junker left its course."* 

It must be added that Dr. Junker, during his ex- 
plorations of the river-basin, extending over three 
years, has done much to verify this Irypothesis ; he has, 
moreover, by his numerous itineraries, provided the 
material for a map of this unknown region, and has 
amassed such valuable scientific information as must 
make the history of his travels, now in preparation, a 
geographical contribution of the highest importance. 

■* A. J. Wauters, Le Mouvemeui geographique, 1885-1887. 



JUNKER AND CASATI. 49 

This eminent explorer, Wilhelm Junker (to whom 
the present volume is dedicated) , was born at Mos- 
cow on the 6th of April 1840. He studied at Gottin- 
gen, St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Prague. His earlier 
travels were in Iceland, but in 1874, abandoning the 
frozen zone for tropical Africa, he made various ex- 
cursions into Tunis and Lower Egypt, whence he pro- 
ceeded to the Natron Lakes and Fayoum, and crossing 
to the Red Sea, went in succession in Suakim, Kassala, 
and Khartoom ; then, having explored the Sobat, he 
made his way to Gondokoro. The year 1877 found 
him in the basin of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Yei'. 

After four years' wanderings, with many useful re- 
sults, the Doctor returned to Europe for rest ; but the 
attraction of African life was too strong to be resisted, 
and in 1878 he started again by way of Suakim for 
Berber, going on to Khartoom, where he arrived in 
January 1880. 

This time he had a definite purpose in view : he had 
determined to explore the almost unknown regions 
that were watered by the Welle, and set his mind on 
following its course as far as possible to the west, that 
he might put to rest the dubious question of its ulti- 
mate issue. Accompanied by a specialist in natural 
history, M. Frederic Bohndorf, and by a young ne- 
gro whom he had taken with him to Europe after his 
first journe} 7 , he made his way to the heart of the con- 
tinent, halting at the zeribas Meshra-er-Rek, Dyoor- 
Ghattas, Uau, Dehm Suleiman, and Dehm Bekir, and 
finally taking up his quarters, as the base of his oper- 
ations, at the residence of Ndoruma, a powerful Niam- 
niam chief in the Congo basin. 

The Niam-niam are that strange people whose exist- 
ence, surrounded by mystery and legend, was attested 
by the very earliest adventurers into the Soudan. 
They were the famous " men with tails'' in whom cer- 
tain savants imagined that they had discovered the 
missing link between ape and man ; and such was their 
weird repute that Soudanese and Nubians alike asso- 
ciated their name with all the savage devilry that imag- 
ination could conjure up. The apellation by which 
we distinguish them is borrowed from the dialect of 
the Dinka, and signifies " great eaters, " an illusion 
only too suggestive of cannibal propensities. 



50 NIAM-NIAM WARRIORS. 

Dr. Schweinfurth was the first to give any detailed 
particulars about the Niam-niam, whose general as- 
pect excited his repeated wonder. He writes : — " No 
traveller could possibly find himself for the first time 
surrounded by a group of true Niam-niam without be- 
ing almost forced to confess that all he had hitherto 
witnessed amongst the various races of Africa was 
comparatively tame and uninteresting. " He thus de- 
scribes a Niam-niam warrior: — "The stranger, as he 
gazes on him, may well behold in this true son of the 
African wilderness every attribute of the wildest sav- 
agely that may be conjured up by the boldest flight of 
fancy. ... I have seen the wild Bishareen and other 
Bedouins of the Nubian desert, I have gazed with ad- 
miration upon the stately war-dress of the Abyssinians, 
I have been riveted with surprise at the supple forms 
of the mounted Baggara, but nowhere in any part of 
Africa have I ever come across a people that in every 
attitude and in every motion exhibited so thorough a 
mastery over all the circumstances of war or of the 
chase as the Niam-niam. Other nations in compari- 
son seemed to me to fall short in the perfect ease, I 
might almost say dramatic grace, that characterised 
their every movement." * 

Equally well may the Niam-niam be described as a 
nation of hunters or a nation of agriculturists. As 
with most African races, the cultivation of the soil is 
carried on by the women ; not that this involves any 
excessive labour, inasmuch as the natural productive- 
ness of the soil, the exuberance of which in some dis- 
tricts is unsurpassed, makes all culture exceptionally 
easy. The whole land is pre-eminently rich in many 
products that conduce to the direct maintenance of life, 
and eleusine, sweet potatoes, yams, manioc, and colo- 
casiae may be said to grow all but spontaneously. 

Speaking generally, it may be said that they have 
no cattle ; cows, goats, and sheep are hardly known 
otherwise than by report. The acme, however, of 
human enjoyment for a Naim-niam would seem to be 
meat y everyone is a hunter, and it maybe, within cer- 
tain limits, a cannibal. The cry that resounds in all 
their campaigns is, u Meat, meat ! " 

As to cannibalism, there is no doubt that it has been 

* Sckweinfurth, " Heart of Africa," vol. ii. p. 12. 



JUNKER AND CAS ATI. 51 

attributed to them by all the surrounding nations, and 
perhaps few could venture to dispute this widespread 
testimony ; on the other hand, it must be acknowledged 
that travellers have met with Niam-niam chiefs who 
vehemently repudiate the idea of eating human flesh. 
At the same time, it is asserted of other chiefs that 
they have openly and without reserve, if not ostenta- 
tiously, confessed their predilection ; whilst it is stated, 
in addition, that they adorn themselves with the teeth 
of the victims they have devoured, and exhibit their 
skulls conspicuously among their hunting-trophies. 
Moreover, it is said that the fat of the human body is 
in general use. 

The country inhabited by the Niam-niam is so im- 
mense that as yet it has been but partially explored. 
The ridge between the basins of the Nile and the Congo 
forms pretty nearly a central line through the whole. 
Eastwards their population extends to Lake Albert and 
the Nile ; westwards they probably reach to the north 
of the French Congo, to the sources of the Benwe ; and 
to the south they occupy the greater portion of the 
Congo Free State, on the banks of the Welle. 

They have no national unity. Schweinfurth counted 
no less than thirty-eight independent chiefs in the coun- 
try north of Tankasi, and a still larger number was 
visited by Junker, whose travels carried him along 
both banks of the Welle ; he makes special mention 
of Ndoruma and Semio, well-known rulers, in whose 
domains he established stations, and further speaks of 
Bankangai* and Kanna, who reside in the Bomokandi 
basin within the limits of the Congo St: te, as the most 
powerful chiefs that he came across throughout his 
entire journey. 

Of towns in an ordinary sense, or even of villages, 
the Niam-niam have none. Their huts are grouped in 
little clusters, which are scattered about the cultivated 
lands and separated from each other by tracks of wil- 
derness more or less extensive, broken by forests and 
savannahs that are the haunts of innumerable herds of 
elephants and antelopes. The country everywhere is 
picturesque, and in the valleys, where heat and moisture 
are combined, the scene is often charming as fairy-land. 

M. Bohndorf pronounces the climate to be superior 
to that of Java or India, and considers that when the 



52 junker's travels. 

ameliorating appliances of civilisation shall have been 
introduced, the mortality of the white man will he 
comparatively small. 

Personal security is nowhere more assured than in 
the majority of the districts farther north. The Euro- 
pean has only to use a little tact and he may travel 
quite unarmed. Except on a few excursions when he 
obtained an escort either from Gessi Pasha or from 
Soudanese traders, Dr. Junker made all his journeys 
accompanied only by a few lads and porters. His sole 
precaution, before entering the territory of an un- 
known chief, was to send some messengers in advance 
to announce his arrival, and to declare that his in- 
tentions were quite peaceable. A few presents went 
far to conciliate the favour of the chief, not only ob- 
taining permission for the white man's entry, but 
procuring the loan of guides to conduct him onwards. 

By such prudent policy, and probably through the 
absolute want of anything like military display, Jun- 
ker w T as able to travel for more than two years in the 
Niam-niam country, going southwards beyond the 
Bomokandi, and westwards to a little above the con- 
fluence of the Mbomo, in the Bandchia tribe, where 
Ali Kobo, a merchant, has established a zeriba for the 
ivory-trade. To the east he penetrated into the abode 
of the Monbuttoo, where, in August 1882, at the vil- 
lage of Tangasi, he met the Italian explorer, Casati. 

Gaetano Casati, a native of Monza, in Upper Italy, 
was serving as a captain of Bersaglieri, when it was 
proposed to him by M. Camperio, the founder of the 
Italian Society for the Exploration of Africa, that he 
should join his countryman, Gessi Pasha, in the Bahr- 
el-Ghazal, as correspondent to the geographical re- 
view, L'Exploratore. 

The offer was accepted ; and on December 24, 1879, 
Casati embarked at Genoa for Suakim, whence he 
continued his way to the interior, where he has re- 
sided ever since, staying successively in the lands of 
the Dyoor, the Dinka, and the Makraka, and proceed- 
ing, after Gessi had taken his departure, westward of 
Lake Albert into the district of the Monbuttoo. 

This interesting negro race, the Monbuttoo, thirty 
years back, was not even known to have an existence ; 
it has now been brought into notoriety by Di\ Schwein,- 



JUNKER AND CAS ATI. 53 

furth, the first European to make his way so far in 
that direction. According to the estimate he formed 
about them, they are a people that must take a fore- 
most rank amongst African tribes. They are a noble 
race, with a higher grade of culture than their savage 
neighbours. They exhibit a public spirit and a na- 
tional pride, and certainly possess an intelligence and 
judgment such as few Africans can boast. Their 
word is sure, and their friendship lasting. The Nu- 
bians who reside among them can never say enough 
in praise of their fidelity, their military qualities, and 
their personal courage. 

A marked development characterises their capabili- 
ties ; and as potters, wood-carvers and boat-builders, 
they are second to no tribe on the entire continent. 
It is, however, in their architecture that the versatility 
of their artistic faculty most reveals itself. Alike in 
size, in arrangement, and in decoration, their build- 
ings excel all that travellers in Central Africa have 
found elsewhere ; the great hall in the palace of Munza, 
who was king of the Monbuttoo at the time of Schwein- 
furth's visit, was not much short of a hundred feet 
long, fifty feet wide, and forty feet high ; not unlike 
the central portion of a large railway-station, its 
vaulted roof being supported on three long rows of 
pillars formed of polished wood. 

The Monbuttoo sovereigns enjoy far higher prerog- 
atives than the rulers of the Niam-niam. Besides the 
monoply of ivory, they claim regular contributions, 
levied upon the products of the soil. In addition to 
his bodyguard proper, Munza was always attended by 
a large suite, never leaving his residence without being 
accompanied by a retinue of some hundred men, and 
preceded by a long array of trumpeters, drummers, 
and couriers with large iron bells. 

And yet, advanced as they seem in some respects 
towards civilisation, and eminent as travellers declare 
them to be for hospitality, they are a people amongst 
whom the practice of cannibalism is most flagrant. 
They are skilled sportsmen, and hunt elephants, buffa- 
loes, and antelopes ; they take the guinea-fowl, the 
francolin, and the bustard in snares ; but there is no 
game for which they have a keener relish than iox 
human flesh, 



54 



THE MONBUTTOO COUNTRY. 



Living in a state of perpetual warfare with the in- 
ferior tribes of the Arirwimi basin, their neighbours 
on the south, they have hunting-grounds which are 
inexhaustible in the supply of this coveted food. The 
dead bodies of those who fall in battle are immediately 
distributed to be cut up, and are dried upon the field, 
preparatory to being carried away. Every family 
would seem to have its suppi} 7 , and human fat is uni- 
versally employed for domestic purposes. According 
to Schweinfurth, children are regarded as a special 
delicacy, and are reserved for the table of the king. 

It is now accepted as a fact, established by the tes- 
timony alike of transient travellers and of agents 
permanently residing in the Congo State, that all the 
tribes inhabiting the vast region between the Cougo 
and the Welle are adicted to cannibalism ; but if 
Schweinfurth's impression be correct, the cannabal- 
ism of the Monbuttoo is the most inveterate of all ; 
he had no difficulty in getting two hundred skulls of 
their victims to be submitted to him, of which he se- 
lected fort}^ to bring away. 

Nothing short of European occupation, with the 
introduction of cattle and the suppression of in- 
ternecine wars, can ever avail to put an end to the 
revolting practice. 

Situated as it is between Emin Pasha's province 
and the Congo Eree State, it is to be hoped that the 
Monbuttoo country can hardly be long before being 
brought under European influence. From a politico- 
economical point of view, it holds out a promise of great 
importance ; its fertility, its population, its wealth, its 
comparative salubrity, and its picturesqueness attract 
the interest equally of travellers and traders. "The 
Monbuttoo land," says Schweinfurth, " greets us as an 
Eden upon earth. Unnumbered groves of plantains 
bedeck the gently heaving soil ; oil-palms, incompar- 
able in beauty, and other monarchs of the stately 
woods, rise up and spread their glory over the favoured 
scene ; along the streams there is a bright expanse 
of charming verdure, whilst a grateful shade ever 
overhangs the domes of the idyllic huts."* 

Like the Niam-niam, the Monbuttoo have no real 
villages. To quote Schweinfurth again : — " The huts 

* Schweinfurth, " Heart of Africa," vol. ii. p, 85, 



JUNKER AND CASATI* 55 

are arranged in sets following the lines of the brooks 
along the valleys, the spaee between each group being 
occupied by plantations of oil-palms. The dwellings 
are separated from the lowest parts of the depression 
by the plantain grounds, whilst above, on the higher 
and drier soil, extend the fields of sweet potatoes and 
colocasiae*" f 

Notwithstanding his efforts to make further progress 
to the south, Dr. Schweinfurth, in 1871, found himself 
unable to advance beyond a spot within King Munza's 
dominions, on the left bank of the Welle, the present 
site of Tangasi. 

Captain Casati was more fortunate. Taking a 
south-westerly course, he succeeded in passing beyond 
the Monbuttoo frontier, and reached the residence of 
the Niam-niam chief, Bakangai, who, being afraid that 
he might be held responsible for the death of a Eu- 
ropean traveller, refused to allow him to penetrate 
farther west into the country of the fierce Ababua. 

About the same time as Casati, Dr. Junker also 
arrived at the quarters of Bakangai. Not to be de- 
terred, he made a bold dash from Tangasi towards the 
south, and managed to get across the southern ridge 
of the Welle basin, and having passed through the 
Mabode country into the Aruwimi valley, reached the 
quarters of one of their chiefs named Sanga, a prince 
of Monbuttoo origin. 

This spot, on the banks of the river Nepoko, was 
destined to be the farthest point that was reached in 
the adventurous enterprises of that date. 

Both Junker's and Casati's investigations were now 
to be interrupted, and finally to be altogether checked, 
by the disquieting intelligence from Khartoom that was 
forwarded to them by Lupton and Emin Bey. 

In November 1882, just as lie was leaving Semio for 
the west, Dr. Junker received a warning from Lupton 
that, instigated by the Arabs, the Dinka had risen in 
revolt, and that the route towards Meshra-er-Rek was 
quite unsafe. Persevering, however, and not allowing 
his schemes to be frustrated by the tidings, he pursued 
his way into the unknown regions to the west, resolved, 
if possible, to ascertain the real direction of the course 
of the Welle-Makua. He traversed the territory of the 

j Ibid., vol ii. p. 119. 



56 PRISONERS Iff THE SOUDAN. 

Bandchia tribes, and arrived at the zeriba All-Kobe, 
in the Bassange country, the extreme point hitherto 
reached on the great river. 

It was, however, only for four days that he could re- 
main there. He had hardly arrived when letters from 
Lupton overtook him, forwarded in urgent haste, an- 
nouncing the rapid progress of the Mahdi's revolt and 
the rising of the natives in the Rahr-el-G nazal, There 
was no alternative for him but to return at once ; at 
the very moment when he seemed to have the immedi- 
ate prospect of being able to solve the question of 
the Welle, he was obliged to abandon his undertaking 
and beat a retreat. 

By the following May he was back in Semio. After 
waiting in doubt and anxiety for six months, and still 
despairing of finding any way open to the north, lie set 
out towards the east in the direction of the province 
of the Equator, where Emin Pasha was pressing him 
to come and join him without delay. He reached Lado 
on the 23d of January 1884. Casati had arrived there 
some months previously. 

It was high time ; the crisis was at hand ; stern 
action must be taken. 



CHAPTER V. 

PRISONERS IN THE SOUDAN. 

Native rising in the Bahr-el-Ghazal— Fall of Ronmbck, G-haba-Chambil, 
and Bor — Lupton Bey a prisoner — The Emir Karam -Allah — Siege of-Ama- 
di — Heroic conduct of negro troops — Transfer of seat of government from 
L:ido to Douflle — Letter from the Mahdi — Battle of Remio — Emin Bey 
at Wadelai — Dr. Junker amongst the Lango — Emin Bey's army, fortifica- 
tions, and boats — Dr. Junker prepares ^to start for trie coast. 

It was in Lupton Bey's province of the Gazelle that 
the insurrectionary movement first broke out. The 
1)1 nka betook themselves to arms, and for eighteen 
months waged a determined and sanguinary war 
n gainst the Government troogg ; and in spite of Lup- 
ton making a levy of all the force at his disposal, he 
was unequal to the task of suppressing the revolt. 

The Nneir, the Agar, and various other tribes of 
the Rohl River, were not long in following the lead of 



LtJPtON BEY. 57 

the Dinka, and the- Egyptian station at Koumbek was 
captured and destroyed. 

With reference to this trying period, speaking on 
the 20th of May 1887 at a meeting of the Geographi- 
cal Society of Paris, Dr. Junker said — " Throughout 
the critical circumstances of that time Lupton Bey's 
conduct was most admirable. His letters, dated from 
every quarter of the province, attest that he was ubiq- 
uitous in pursuit of his fugitive adversaries. The 
details of that arduous struggle are not well known 
in Europe, and consequently the general public has 
never duly appreciated Lupton's merits. That war 
of the Dinka for eighteen months against the Govern- 
ment troops, was more desperate and murderous than 
the subsequent encounters with the Mahdists in the 
province of Emin Bey." 

Within a year Lupton was engaged in more than 
twenty battles. To aggravate his difficulty, the Arabs, 
who favoured the rebellion, sent reinforcements to 
maintain the conflict, and in spite of the most heroic 
efforts to suppress it, the insurrection kept on spread- 
ing until it reached the western tribes of the Equator 
province. At the end of 1883 the Bari began to make 
a movement, and at the beginning of the following 
year the station of Ghaba-Chambil, with its entire 
garrison, fell into the hands of the rebels, a loss which 
was quickly followed by that of Bor. 

Henceforth, Emin's province lay open to the en- 
croachments of the insurgents. 

It was just at this time that Gordon arrived at 
Khartoom, and the blockade of that town was com- 
mencing. Communication with the north was already 
cut off, as Fashoda, situated on both sides of the Nile 
"at the confluence of the Sobat and the Bahr-el-Ghazal, 
was in the hands of the Mahdi's followers, who kept 
continually advancing to the south. 

Deserted by a portion of his troops, Lupton was un- 
able to hold out. In May he was reduced to extremi- 
ties and compelled to surrender himself a prisoner. 
He was taken to Kordofan. No long time elapsed 
before there w r as not a soldier who remained faithful 
to the Khedive, and every station, with its ammunition 
and provisions, passed into the hands of the Arabs. 

At Lado, on the 27th of May, the three Europeans 



58 PRISONERS IN THE SOUDAN. 

received a letter from Lupton, making them aware of 
his misfortune. At the same time came a message 
from a certain Emir Karam-Allah, a soi-discmt lieuten- 
ant of the Mahdi's, calling on Em in, as Govern our of 
the proinnce, to appear personally before him and 
make submission. Emm was in perplexity, but was 
anxious above all things to gain time. He sent word 
to the Emir that, being desirous to avoid useless blood- 
shed, he would not refuse to appear before him, but 
that the hostility of the natives against him was so 
great that he could not venture to leave his quarters ; 
he represented that his departure would be the signal 
for a general mutiny, and added that, while he was 
thus careful to protect the lives of his soldiers, he was 
nevertheless willing to hold the province as being un- 
der the Mahdi's authority ; finally declaring that he 
could not think of quitting his post until a successor 
had been appointed, and that he should accordingly 
wait for further instructions. 

Without loss of time, however, he concentrated all 
his force. Abandoning all outlying stations, he gath- 
ered his troops into one body, and proceeded to make 
preparation for an attack which he foresaw was im- 
minent. 

At the close of the year 1884 things had indeed be- 
come serious, and a report was spread that a large 
force, commanded by the Emir Karam-Allah in per- 
son, was marching upon the station of Amacli, just 
five days' journey from Lado. 

The rumour w r as only too true. Amadi had to sus- 
tain a siege, and for nineteen days its gallant little 
garrison, composed entirely of negro soldiers under 
Soudanese officers, maintained a resistance. At last, 
coming to the end of their resources, they made a des- 
perate dash, and breaking through the line of the be- 
siegers, succeeded in effecting a retreat into the Ma- 
kraka country. 

In recounting this feat of arms, thus valorously ac- 
complished by negroes, Emin Pasha wrote to his friend, 
the Rev. Robert Felkin, in Edinburgh : — " Ever since 
the Arab occupation of the Bahr-el-Ghazal — I will not 
say its conquest, since everything that has been gained 
has been gained by treachery — w T e have been most 
vigorously attacked ; and I feel that I cannot give you 



BRAVERY OF NEGRO TROOPS. 59 

an idea of the admirable devotion of my black troops 
throughout this long war, in which for them at least 
there can be no advantage. Destitute of the barest 
necessaries of life, and with their pay long in arrears, 
they fought most resolutely, and when at last, after 
nineteen days of hardship and privation, weakened by 
hunger — the last shred of leather, the last boot hav- 
ing been devoured — they forced a gap in the enemy's 
ranks and made good their escape. 

" These brave fellows endured all this misery with 
perfect disinterestedness, without prospect of reward, 
simply because they were prompted by a sense of duty 
and were desirous of exhibiting their bravery to the 
foe. Whatever doubts I may ever have had of the 
negro, the history of the seige of Amadi has convinced 
me that in resolute courage the black race is inferior to 
none, and in the spirit of self-sacrifice is superior to 
many. Without any highly skilled officers to direct 
them or give them orders, they performed miracles, 
and it will be difficult for the Egyptian Government to 
give them any worthy proof of its gratitude. "' 

The emergency became more pressing, and another 
change of headquarters was soon imperative. In the 
north-west of the province the Mahdi's force continued 
to advance, while the prospect of an attack by Karam- 
Allah upon Lado seemed more threatening. Accord- 
ingly Emin Bey resolved upon a fresh concentration of 
his men upon the Nile, and hastened to transfer the 
seat of his government from Lado to Doufile, whither 
were conveyed all the Coptic and Egyptian officials, 
as well as all the Government papers and records. 

Shortly after this a message was received from the 
victorious Emir announcing that he was on his way to 
Laclo. It was accompanied by a transcript of a letter 
writen by the Mahdi at Khartoom, dated the 28th of 
January, communicating the intelligence of the fall of 
that town and the death of Gordon. 

" Copy of a gracious order of our Lord the Mahdi — 
may he be blessed! — to his representative Kar am- Allah, 
Emir of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and of the Equator: — 

u The devoted slave of God, Mohammed-el-Mahdi, son 
of Abdallah, to his dearly beloved representative, Karam- 
AJlah, son of the Sheik Mohammed; — 



60 iPRlSOtfERS IN THE SOtTDAK. 

" My son, receive my greeting! The blessing of tlie mer- 
ciful God be upon thee! 

" I bid thee know that according to the infallible predic- 
tions, of God, and by his immutable goodness, the town of 
Khartoom, by the aid of the living and immortal, was taken 
on Monday the 26th of Jany. in the present year. 

" Early in the morning, the troops of the faithful applied 

themselves to their task, and, confident in God, they made 

an assault. In less than half an hour the enemies of God 

. were in their hands; they were annihilated to a man; so too 

their fortress. 

" Strongly prepared for defence though they were, they 
yielded at the first onslaught, dispersed by the hand of the 
Lord. Then they sought safety in flight, crowded into the 
courtyards, and closed the gates. Our army pursued them, 
put them to the edge of the sword, attacked them with 
lances until their cries were heard aloud, their tears out- 
poured, and they were stricken with consternation. Not 
long were the faithful in getting the upper hand of the sur- 
vivors who had closed the gates; they captured them and 
slew them, so that none but women and children remained 
to defend the place. 

"Gordon, the enemy of God, so long a rebel and insur- 
gent, so often warned by us and invited to place himself 
under the hand of God, refused to submit; wherefore he 
has found his fate; he has reaped in sorrow what he sowed 
in guilt; God hath sent him to hell, there for ever to abide. 

" Thus has the might of the unbeliever been destroyed. 
Thanks be to God, the Lord of all the earth! 

" On our side, ten died the death of the believer; not an- 
other was wounded nor even bruised in the encounter. 
Behold the Divine mercy! The victory is from God; be- 
fore him we prostrate ourselves in adoration. Do likewise; 
and accept my greeting. 

" 12 Eebi Achir, 1302." 

This mournful intelligence, confirmed by the non- 
arrival of the ordinary Khartoom steamer, and coming 
so quickly after the tidings of the Emir's successes in 
the south, thoroughly opened Emin Bey's eyes to the 
gravity of the situation in which he was placed. The 
loss of Amadi, following upon Lupton's retirement from 
his various stations, and the menaces which he now re- 
ceived from Karam- Allah, showed him only too plainly 
that he was in danger of being immediately attacked. 

It soon transpired that the Emir was advancing with 
the design of attacking Remio, a station near the Yei', 
north-west of Doufile. Fearing lest the little garrison 
should share the fate of that of Amadi, Emin resolved 
to make a venture in its defence. Taking, several bat- 



junker's first start. 61 

talions of his troops, he set out and arrived at the 
spot in April, in time to await the appearance of the 
Arabs ; and on their approach, his troops, assisted by 
the Monbuttoo, made a rush upon them, and inflicted 
such a sanguinary defeat, that they withdrew in all 
speed back again to the north. Thus for the time all 
danger was warded off the stations on the Nile. 

Whether it was this fortunate exploit of the Egyp- 
tian troops that rescued the Equatorial provinces from 
further incursions by the bands of the Arabs, or 
whether the Emir was recalled by the Mahdi, who was 
concerned at the presence of an English expedition 
near Khartoom, there are now no means of judging ; 
but certain it is that Lado, where the rebels had been 
daily expected to appear before the fences, was left 
undisturbed, and it was soon ascertained that the Emir 
had led his men by forced marches towards Kordofan. 

Obviously it was still the duty of Emin Bey to be 
on his guard against any fresh surprise. He came to 
the conclusion that it was desirable that he should for 
the third time change the seat of his government, and 
issuing orders for the evacuation of his western stations 
in the Makraka country, he proceeded to draw off all 
his force and his last reserve of ammunition to Wade- 
lai', his most southern station on the river. 

Further than this, as all hope of succour from the 
north had been dispelled by the gloomy tidings that 
had reached him of the fate of Khartoom, he began to 
turn his eyes towards Zanzibar, whither it was agreed 
that Dl\ Junker should be despatched with the object, 
if possible, of opening communication with the coast. 

The Doctor started. Ascending the Nile from Don- 
file to Meshra, he reached the residence of Anfina, the 
Lango chief, a faithful ally of Emm's, whence he en- 
deavoured to enter into negotiations with Uganda. 
His efforts were vain. The road to the south, like the 
road to the north, was closed not onty to the white 
men themselves, but also to the transit of their mes- 
sengers and despatches. 

Thus was Emin Pnsha isolated from the world, and 
thrown back upon himself and the fidelity of his 
followers. 

For ten months, from January to November 1885, 
did Dr. Junker persevere in his wanderings amongst 



62 PRISONERS IN THE SOUDANo 

the Lango, between Aniina's quarters and Faivwera, 
ones a station of the Egyptians ; and then, finding 
all his proceedings futile, he made his way back to 
Wadelai. 

At that period the situation may be thus described. 
The province, after having been for six months re- 
lieved of the presence of the Mahdi's troops, was com- 
paratively quiet. So far as regarded the natives every- 
thing was satisfactory ; the Bari alone had shown any 
symptoms of rebellion, and these were promptly sup- 
pressed. At Emin's disposal there were about 1500 
regular troops armed with Remington rifles, the whole 
of these being negroes, except about forty Egyptians 
who were specially told off for the artillery ; they were 
commanded by ten Egyptian officers and fifteen Sou- 
danese, and all remained staunch in their allegiance. 

" In spite of their utter destitution, " wrote Emin, 
" in spite of their being without pay and almost with- 
out clothes? these soldiers continue dutiful and obedi- 
ent. This is far more than could be expected. " 

The 1500 soldiers? parcelled out into companies 
varying from one hundred to two hundred men, gar- 
risoned ten stations ; nine on the Nile, namely, Lado, 
Redjaf 5 Bedden, Kirri, Muggi, Lahore, Chor Aju, Don- 
file, and Wadolai; the tenth, Fatiko, being in the 
Shooli country*, on the road from Doufile to Mrooli. * 

Communication between the different stations was 
maintained by two steamers, the Nyassa and tho 
Khedive*) which had been brought into service during 
the time when Gordon was Governour for the first 
time, and which could upon occasion bo fitted out for 
defence The officials (Egyptian and Coptic) num- 
bered somewhere about two hundred ; and if for each 
official, officer,, and soldier there were reckoned an 
average of not less than three women, children, and 
'Sl.ives, the total would amount to a population of at 
least 10,000 souls, constituting what the English news- 
papers have designated u Emin Pasha's people. 53 

Since 1885 the protection of Emin Pasha has by no 
means been the chief difficulty. In one of his letters 
he writes : — " Since the retreat of Karam-Allah and 

* Since then five other stations have been reoccupied. These are Ma- 
kraka-Sugaire and Uandi in the Makraka country. Mahagi on Lake Albert, 
and Faloro and Fatibvk in the interior, east of the Nile.^ 



ENERGY OF EMIN PASHA. 63 

the dispersion of his troops by the natives on the 
Korclcfan frontier, peace has been unbroken ; and I 
may also add that the war has had the beneficial re- 
sult of clearing the whole province of the Bahr-el- 
Ghazal of slavc-hunterSo" What has given the great- 
est cause for anxiety is the lack of stores and goods 
for barter, combined with the fear of running short of 
ammunition and the impossibility of holding communi- 
cation with Europe o 

In another letter Emm wrote : — u Wo have under- 
"gone terrible trials ; happily, however, we have proved 
the truth of the proverb, 6 Necessity is the mother of 
invention,' and we feel that we may well be proud of 
the way in which we have managed for ourselves since 
we have been deprived of all external aid. At all our 
stations agricultural work is progressing well. We 
have grown cotton ; we have learned both to spin and 
to weave ; as a specimen of what we can do I send 
you a pretty little handkerchief of our own manufac- 
ture. We have introduced the craft of shoemaking, and 
you would be surprised at what wo have produced., 
We make our soap of fat and ashes 5 and our candles 
of wax. Hibiscus seed wc find a fair substitute for 
coffee ; we sweeten it with honey. I must not forget 
also to tell you that we have grown some splendid 
tobacco in our gardens. Except that I miss booko, 
newspapers, and materials for my scientific work, 
personally I am in want of nothing. " 

But it is remarkable how even in the times of his 
greatest anxiety 9 Emin never failed in his scientific in- 
terest ; in all the letters sent by him, at various times, 
to Schweinfurth, Junker, Felkin, Hassenstein, Behm, 
Allen, and others, detailing the circumstances under 
which he was living, he speaks of his constant desire 
to make his long residence in Africa profitable for tho 
advance of science. 

In one of these letters, addressed to the late Dr. Behm 
of Gotha, after saying that he anticipated that the 
Nueir, the Agar, and the Dinka were on the point of 
breaking out in an insurrection which it would be a loi.g 
and difficult task to suppress, he thus continues : — "To 
myself, my residence in the Monbuttoo country has 
been very satisfactory. I have worked hard and made 
man}/ new and interesting notes ; I have put together 



64 PRISONERS IN THE SOUDAN. 

a vocabulary, and have tried generally to be as useful 
as possible. Your suggestion that I should make an 
ethnological chart is never out of my mind, and with 
reference to tho work I have already begun to collect 
some examples of the dialects." 

At a later date he wrote to Dr. Schweinfurth : — 
" Thanks to the many newspapers and pamphlets which 
have reached me by way of Uganda, 1 have now an 
ample stock of paper, and shall be able to resume the 
preparation of the herbarium which I promised you." 

In another letter to the Eev. Eobert Felkin, he 
writes : — U I have not forgotten Professor Flower ; ac- 
cording to his desire I have collected several human 
skulls, also some skulls of chimpanzees, and some 
skeletons of animals and Akka ; . . . I have likewise 
a collection of shells from Lake Albert." 

Such for three years, amidst incessant care and anx- 
iety, was the life of the three Europeans who were 
fated thus to be brought together and blockaded on the 
Upper Nile. 

When the attacks of the Arabs had ceased, and the 
revolts of the natives had been suppressed, they de- 
liberately set themselves to meet their difficulties hy 
developing the natural resources of the country, and, 
though without means, contrived to get food, clothing, 
and sustenance for the 10,000 men, women, and chil- 
dren over whom they presided as protectors. 

It was now the end of 1885 ; they had had no com- 
munication with Europe since 1883, and they began to 
fear that they had been forgotten. Their eyes were 
still towards Zanzibar, and although Dr. Junker had 
failed in his first efforts to go there, it was deemed ad- 
visable that he should again leave Casati to assist 
Emin in maintaining friendly relations with the sur- 
rounding tribes, and once more endeavour to accom- 
plish his purpose This time he would set out by way 
of Unyoro. The experiment was full of hazard ; yet 
all things considered, a white man accompanied only 
by a email escort would have a greater chance of suc- 
cess than any larger or armed expedition, which would 
assuredly rouse the alarm and suspicion of the natives. 

As to an exodus en masse of the 10,000 officials, 
soldiers, women, children, and slaves that made up 
the population of Waclelai, Lado, and the other sta- 






LETTER FROM EMIN PASHA. 65 

tions, that was a scheme not for a moment to be enter- 
tained. Northwards, the way would be barred by the 
army of the Mahdi ; southwards, were unknown tribes 
in the lands watered by tho Welle and the Upper Congo, 
that had been reached indeed by the civilising mission 
of the King of the Belgians, but of this of course Emin 
had no intelligence, and was utterly ignorant ; and 
lastly, on the east was Uganda, where the bloodthirsty 
tyrant who ruled would be certainly opposed to any 
passage of an armed expedition through his domain,, 

Circumstanced as Emin was, it would have been 
madness to make such a venture — un supplied with 
either provisions or ammunition, to face hostile tribes 
in a desert and unexplored country was simply to 
court disaster ; before his caravan had made much 
progress on its way, a large proportion of his people 
would have succumbed to fatigue and privation, even 
if they escaped being the victims of a bloody foe. 
Emin was not foolhardy enough to think of conduct- 
ing another 66 retreat of the ten thousand." 

As to any thought for himself, of taking advan- 
tage of any opportunity for escape, it would never 
enter his mind. As a, Governour placed by Gordon 
in command of the province of tho Equator he could 
never for a moment contemplate cither forsaking the 
men who had so faithfully adhered to him, or aban- 
doning the country that had boon committed to his 
charge " in the cause of progress and civilisation." 
"I shall endeavour," ho writes to Mr. Fclkin, " to 
bring to a good issue the work for which Gordon sac- 
rificed his blood ; if not with his energy and genius, I 
will at any rate labour in conformity with his instruc- 
tions, and ideas. When he, my lamented chief, con- 
fided to me the oversight of this province, he wrote 
'I nominate you in the cause of progress and civilisa- 
tion.' Hitherto I have done my best to merit that 
confidence which was reposed in me., The simple fact 
that I have been able to maintain myself here in the 
midst of thousands of natives, with only a handful of 
men of my own, is a proof that I have to a certain ex- 
tent succeeded, inasmuch as I am thoroughly trusted 
by the indigenous population. 

"1 am now the sole surviving representative of 
G-ordon's Soudan staff. Consequently, I hold it my 



66 RETURN OF DR. JUNKER. j 

stern duty to follow the path which he pointed out. 
Moreover I am persuaded that there is a bright future 
for these countries ; sooner or later they will be in- 
cluded within the ever-widening circle of the civilised 
world." 

It was therefore no way of personal escape for 
which Emin was looking ; at the same time he longed 
most earnestly for the opening of an avenue of com- 
munication with Europe, by means of which his true 
situation might be known, and along which materials 
might be brought, so that he could continue his work 
on the scene where for so long he had maintained his 
independence. 

This was the general aspect of affairs when Dr. 
Junker again undertook, at the peril of his life, to 
endeavor to reach Europe, there to plead the cause of 
Emin and the Equatorial Soudan. 



CHAPTER VI. 

RETURN OF DR. JUNKER. 

Dr. Junker's departure from Wadelai — The Bahr-el-G-ebel and Lake Al- 
bert — Salt pits at Kibiro — Unyoro — King Kabrega — Mohammed Biri — Cor- 
respondence with Mr. Mackay — Marches in Unyoro — Arrival at Roubaga 
— Uganda and its inhabitants — King Mtesa and King M'Wanga — Murder of 
Bishop Han nington — Emin Pasha relieved — Passageof Lake Victoria — Ar- 
rivalatM'sakda mission-station — Appeal to Europe — Arrival at Zanzibar. 

On the 2nd of January 1886 Dr. Junker left Wade- 
lai". He went on board one of the steamers belonging 
to the station, accompanied by Vita Hassan, an Egyp- 
tian doctor, who was on his way to Unyoro. 

The two travellers ascended the Nile, at that part 
of its course known as the Bahr-el-Gebel, and measur- 
ing nearly three miles across from bank to bank. Ah 
far as Lake Albert navigation is unimpeded by rapids, 
although it is rendered somewhat difficult by numer- 
ous islets of reeds and papyrus, and by shallows where 
hippopotami congregate in considerable numbers. 

On the west the river is bordered by a chain of 
mountains, clothed with sparsely-grown forest ; on the 
eastern side the shore is flatter, extending in wide 
prairie tracts dotted over with trees. Large herds of 



KIBIRO. 67 

elephants and antelopes seem to abound, as they come 
down to the river-bank in the evening to drink. 

The most important district on the western shore is 
Fanikoro, the residence of the chief Okello. On this 
side of the river the population is composed of the 
Aloori tribe ; on the other side, which is equally well 
inhabited, the country is occupied by the Shooli. 

A short distance to the south of Fanikoro is the 
northernmost point of Lake Albert (Mwootan Nzige) 
which was discovered by Sir Samuel Baker on the 
14th of March 1864. G-essi Pasha was the first to 
complete its circumnavigation in March and April 1876, 
since which date it has been explored successively by 
Mason Bey and Emm Pasha. At its north-eastern 
extremity, the Lake receives the Somerset Nile, the 
channel of the overflow from Lake Victoria, and at its 
extreme south it receives the Kakibibi, a stream also 
recently investigated by Emin. 

After a few days' sailing Dr. Junker and his com- 
panion reached Kibiro, on the east of the lake, where 
three large villages, the property of a chief, Kagoro, 
are built close to the base of the mountains. 

Kibiro is the leading trade-depot of the district, and 
the sole occupation of the people is the procuring and 
preparation of salt, for which a demand is found not 
only in Unyoro, but likewise among the Uganda on 
the east, and the Aloori on the west. 

The main centre of the salt industry is almost adja- 
cent to the villages, in the midst of natural gorges 
and ravines, where blocks of stone and masses of 
debris lie in fantastic disorder. Little streams of 
water permeate the heated soil, so that jets of vapour 
are seen rising all around, the warm water being 
carried away by means of troughs supported on stones. 
Groups of women and children are seen gathering the 
earth impregnated with its saline particles into bas- 
kets, which they fill up with water. The mud thus 
formed is filtered, with the result that a pure white 
salt is extracted, which is made up into cylindrical 
blocks, and wrapped in dried banana leaves. The 
salt-pans render the district comparatively wealthy. 

Having landed at Kibiro, Junker and Vita Hassan 
started off on foot, eastwards, to the quarters of 
Kabrega, the Unyoro king. 



68 RETURN OF DR. JUNKER. 

Overhanging the villages is a series of terraces sur- 
mounted by two isolated peaks, known as Rougoi and 
Kjente, between which a steep footway leads to the 
abode of the monarch. The path is all amongst blocks 
of stone and jagged points, the successive terraces 
rising like bastions crowned with grassy plateaux, on 
which trees of any sort are singularly rare. It was a 
task of ten hours' perseverance to reach the royal resi- 
dence, which lies eastward of the river Kjahi, a little 
affluent of Lake Albert. 

In these unsettled regions the capital is continually 
being changed according to the caprice of the ruler. 
At the time of Baker's expedition in 1872, the head- 
quarters were at Masindi ; five years later, when Emin 
Pasha made his first visit, they had been removed to 
Nyamoga ; and now quite recently they have been 
fixed at Giuai'a. 

Altogether Unyoro is one of the most important 
dominions in the country of the great lakes. It in- 
cludes the whole land to the south of the Somerset 
Nile along the west boundary of Lake Albert ; it con- 
si -its almost entirely of vast plains, broken by marshes, 
an I studded with acacia-woods. Bananas, prepared 
in various ways, are the staple food of its people, and 
constitute the crop upon which they mainly depend. 
Pasturage is good, and cattle abundant, as likewise 
are antelopes and elephants. 

In their commercial matters, the inhabitants seem 
active and adroit. Unlike other Nile tribes they wear 
clothes, and the women of the Lango districts are 
the best-looking and best-proportioned to be found 
throughout the region. 

Speke and Grant were amongst the earliest Euro- 
pean travellers to penetrate to Unyoro. In 1863 they 
stayed for several weeks at the court of the king Kam- 
rasi, a crafty character, who in the following year 
caused Baker no inconsiderable trouble. 

In 1872 Baker visited the country again, going this 
time with a commission from the Khedive to annex 
Unyoro to the Egyptian Soudan. He found the throne 
occupied by Kamrasi's son Kabrega, who afterwards 
became an ally of Emin's, and afforded aid and pro- 
tection to Dr. Junker on his homeward way. 

Concerning this young ruler, however, whose name is 



KABREGA. 69 

frequently occurring in recent letters and despatches, 
there would seem to be a wide diversity of opinion. 
After staying with him in 1872, Baker writes : — " On 
the 26th of April I made my official visit to Kabrega, 
my officers being in full uniform, and headed by a 
band of music. I found him in his divan, a roomy^, 
well-built structure, with hangings of inferior printed 
calico brought from Zanzibar. He was himself dressed 
in a piece of black striped bark. This son of Kamrasi, 
the descendant of the victorious G alias, and the six- 
teenth king of Unyoro, is a lout about twenty years of 
age, awkward, unpleasant, cowardly, cruel, cunning 
and perfidious to the last degree. He is nearly six 
feet high, his complexion fair. His eyes are large, 
but too prominent ; he has a low forehead, projecting 
cheek-bones, and a wide mouth, with teeth as white as 
ivory. His hands are well-shaped, the finger-nails, as 
well as toe-nails, being clean and carefully cut. He 
wears sandals of raw buffalo-hide, which are neatly 
made and turned in at the edges." 

This, certainly, is not a flattering portrait ; but, in 
justice to the original, it should be stated that Dr. 
Junker, who saw him fourteen years afterwards, when 
he was consequently thirty- four years of age, says that 
he " was very favourably impressed by the chief's ap- 
pearance, and should consider him to be of a very 
amiable disposition." 

Latterly, no doubt, Kabrega has shown himself 
friendly to JMiropeans, having not only several times 
sent Emin contributions of material to assist him in 
his straits, but having done all in his power to facili- 
tate the conveyance of his correspondence to the coast. 

Nevertheless, Casati, after staying at Giuai'a for 
nearly a year, seems, like Baker, to have formed a 
mean opinion of Kabrega. In a letter to M. Cam- 
perio, dated May 7 2, 1887, he writes : — 

u Kabrega makes no secret of his evil intentions; 
nothing but falsehood is on his lips. I shall, how- 
ever, persevere in my mission, although Emin urges 
me to abandon it. If I lef.ve here, the road is closed 
behind me ; and unfortunately no other way is open." 

At Giuai'a Dr. Junker found some Arab traders who 
for some time had settled in Kabrega's domain, but 
he failed for a while to enter into negotiations with 



70 RETURN OF DR. JUNKER. 

them, because they were afraid that they should be 
compromised by having transactions with him. One 
day, however, he received a letter written in French 
from one of them, a certain Mohammed Biri, which 
resulted in a subsequent interview. 

This Mohammed proved to be a servant who had once 
been attached to the Belgian station of Karema, having 
followed Captain Ramackers to Lake Tanganyika. After 
that officer's death, he had returned to the coast, and 
was now engaged in the ivory-trade in the districts in 
the neighbourhood of the great lakes. He gave the 
doctor the latest news of the Soudan, telling him that 
it had been abandoned by the British troops ; and he 
described the condition of Uganda, mentioning that 
some European missionaries were resident here. 

This was a statement that could not fail , to arrest 
Junker's attention. It raised his spirits, and he wrote 
off at once to the Uganda missionaries. Not that it 
was an easy matter to get into correspondence with 
them, and he had to wait six weeks in anxious sus- 
pense before an answer was brought back. At length, 
in February, a messenger arrived from Mr. Mackay of 
the English mission, bringing the most recent intelli- 
gence from Europe, Egypt, and Zanzibar. 

"That day of the arrival of the courier," writes 
the doctor, " was truly a red-letter day to me ! " For 
three years he had had no communication with the 
civilised world. 

Mr. Mackay confirmed and related in detail the 
disastrous tidings from the Soudan ; he represented as 
still very critical the situation of the missionaries in 
Uganda, where on the 31st of the preceding October 
Bishop Hannington had been murdered at the instiga- 
tion of the king ; and he likewise stated that a relief- 
expedition had been organised, and had started from 
Zanzibar in August under the charge of Dr. Fischer, 
but that it had been prohibited from passing through 
Uganda, and had been compelled to return. His 
advice to Dr. Junker was to use the greatest caution, 
and by no means at present to venture without permis- 
sion into the territory of the bloodthirsty M'Wanga, 
as the life of any European was there in perpetual 
peril. Finally, he enclosed three letters addressed to 
Emin Bey ; one from Nubar Pasha, the Egyptian 



UGANDA. 71 

Prime Minister, instructing him to abandon the prov- 
ince of the Equator ; one from Sir John Kirk, the 
English Consul at Zanzibar ; and the third from the 
Sultan, Sa'id-Bargash. 

Then followed three weary and disheartening 
months. Acting on Mr. Mackay's counsel, Junker 
applied to M'Wanga for permission to pass through 
his dominions. He knew well enough that elsewhere 
there was no chance of purchasing materials for the 
relief of Emin, nor any chance of findiug for himself 
means to reach the coast. Pending the receipt of a 
reply, he made a move nearer to the Uganda frontier, 
but on the way he had the misfortune to injure him- 
self seriously by a fall, and at the same time found 
himself in perplexity through the desertion of his por- 
ters, whilst to add to his difficulties it was discovered 
that hostilities were recommencing between Unyoro 
and Uganda. 

This state of warfare may be said to be chronic. 
The two kingdoms are only separated by a small 
intervening tract which is overrun by troops of armed 
marauders. Across this runs the natural route for 
caravans, and all the Arab and native traders, travel- 
ling between Lake Victoria or Lake Albert and the 
Soudan, have to be protected by an escort, and so 
dangerous is the country that the march is most fre- 
quently made by night. 

After meeting with many obstacles and effecting 
some hair-breadth escapes, Junker found himself safely 
over this debateable land, and having obtained the 
permission for which he had asked, he entered the 
Uganda territory, and arrived in May at Roubaga, 
King M'Wanga's capital. 

Of all the large states in the basin of Lake Vic- 
toria, none is so well known as that of Uganda. It 
encompasses the north and north-west sides of the 
Lake, and its area can hardly be estimated at much 
less than 20,000 square miles. According to the 
accounts of the travellers who have gone through it, 
there seems little doubt that it is one of the finest 
parts of Equatorial Africa, its soil near the Lake 
being exceptionally fertile. The forests are luxuri- 
ant, containing trees of the largest growth ; beyond 
these are plains abundant in pasturage for cattle, ba- 



72 RETURN OF DR. JUNKER. 

nanas and fig-trees flourishing in perfection. Further 
west, the country changes its character, and instead 
of woods and prairies, there are imposing hills rifted 
into valleys, that echo with the rushing of torrents 
and the roar of cataracts. 

The first chief of Uganda who was ever visited by 
Europeans was the notorious Mtesa, who has been 
repeatedly pourtrayed by Speke, Chaille-Long, Stan- 
ley, Lin ant de Belief ond, and others. Always ready 
to .welcome the white man with cordiality, in 1880 he 
had advanced so far as to make up his mind to des- 
patch an embassy to Europe. 

Several weeks, in 1874, were spent at the court of 
this negro sovereign by Stanley, who gives a very 
striking account of Uganda, its ruler, and his military 
power. At a review of the army to which he was 
invited, he computed that there could be no less than 
150,000 soldiers, who were then about to be led on an 
expedition against the Vuavuma The bodyguard was 
composed of 600 picked men, all armed with rifles. 
Besides the army, the chief's harem, consisting of 
5000 wives, concubines, and slaves, was exhibited on 
parade. In Central Africa, as well as upon the banks 
of the Upper Nile and the Congo, a large number of 
wives is regarded as a proof of wealth ; each woman 
has her market value, and may at any time be ex- 
changed for staffs, guns, beads, cattle, or other mer- 
chandise. 

Mtesa's navy was hardly less imposing than his 
army. On the lake were 230 war-canoes of all sizes ; 
the largest was seventy-five feet long and manned by 
sixty-four rowers. Altogether the naval force was 
eight thousand men. 

Some doubts have been expressed as to the accuracy 
of the foregoing figures ; yet when the testimony of 
such men as Wilson and Felkin, missionaries who have 
resided in the country, is taken into account, stating 
the population to exceed 500,000, and when moreover 
it is remembered that every man is trained to arms, 
so as to be ready for immediate service, the muster of 
150,000 soldiers in time of war does not lie outside 
the range of probability. 

But whether this estimate be exaggerated or not, it 
is certain that travellers are of one mind in declaring 



m'wanga's disquietude. 73 

that of all the African states Uganda is the most ad- 
vanced in all matters pertaining to civilisation ; and 
since 1862, when Speke and Grant first made their 
way thither, no other tribe has made so forward a 
stride in internal development. 

Equally rich and diversified are the products of the 
soil ; the climate is by no means variable and compar- 
atively healthy ; the inhabitants (numerous as it has 
been affirmed they are) are brave, intelligent, and 
singularly open to the influences of civilisation, whether 
from Arabs or Europeans. The Arabs from Zanzi- 
bar, quite as much as the English and French mission- 
aries, are struggling hard for mastery over the minds of 
the people, and Islamism is making marked progress. 

It has not taken much more than twenty years for 
Arab example to effect a complete revolution in the 
costume of the natives , At the dato of Spoke's visit, 
clothing was worn to the most limited extent ; but 
now the Uganda as well as the Unyoro dress them- 
selves from head to foot. Arab garments have grad- 
ually replaced the old " mbougon " of bark, and the 
very poorest of the people are seen attired in hai'k, 
shirt, waistband and caftan, and wear tarbooshes or 
turbans on their heads. 

Mtesa died in 1885 ; he was succeeded by his son 
M'Wanga, who is now the reigning sovereign. 

No sooner was M'Wanga on the throne than he be- 
gan to feel uneasy about the maintenance of his inde- 
pendence, and to have misgivings lest the advance of 
Europeans on Lake Victoria should damage or dimin- 
ish his authority. Every fresh advent of an explor- 
ing party, every new arrival of missionaries, and espe- 
cially any display of military strength, and — not least 
— the territorial acquisitions of the Germans in Zan- 
guebar, all served to arouse his suspicion and to in- 
crease his apprehensions. As his alarm increased the 
position of the English and French missionaries at 
Roubaga grew more and more critical ; and at last his 
fears that the white man would come and u eat up" 
all his lands became so intense that he gave orders for 
all intruders to be massacred. Hence resulted the 
cruel murder of Bishop Hannington, who had ventured 
into Uganda with the hope of establishing a Christian 



74 RETURN OF DR. JUNKER. 

settlement. Out of a caravan of fifty who came with 
him, only four escaped. 

Swell was the condition of the country into which 
Dr. Junker now dared to enter. He was obliged to 
act with the utmost circumspection, and so remained 
unmolested for six weeks in the royal capital. More- 
over, as the result of his patience, and through the 
mediation of Mr. Mackay, he succeeded in effecting a 
purchase of stuffs for Emm Bey to the value of 2000 
tallaris. Mohammed Biri, the merchant whom he had 
met in Unyoro, chanced to be in Roubaga, and under- 
took the conveyance of the goods to Wadelai, a good 
service which he faithfully executed after some oppo- 
sition on the part of the king, to the great relief of 
Em in and his followers, who had been so far reduced 
towards a state of nudity, that they had been com- 
pelled to clothe themselves with the skins of animals. 

Having thus enjoyed the satisfaction of providing 
in some degree for the needs of those whom he had 
left behind, Junker turned his thoughts to the prose- 
cution of his journey. He made a few hurried prepa- 
rations, and on the 22nd of July, embarking on one of 
the mission-boats, he set out to cross Lake Victoria. 

The great Nyanza, discovered by Speke on the 4th 
of August 1858, and named by him after his own sov- 
ereign, is the largest lake-basin in the whole continent 
of Africa. Its area is nearly 24,000 square miles, so 
that it is twice as large as Belgium ; there is only one 
lake in the world that exceeds it in size, namely, Lake 
Superior in Canada. Its vast surface is studded with 
islands, some 250 of which are clustered in the north- 
west into an archipelago known as Sesse, all of them 
characterised by singular beauty. 

Storms and waterspouts are of frequent occurrence; 
and contrary winds with violent squalls compelled Dr. 
Junker more than once to take refuge on some of the 
islands, so that it was not until the 16th of August, 
twenty-six days after starting, that he reached the 
southern extremity of the lake, where he landed near 
the village of M'salala, the missionaries from the set- 
tlement there hastening to offer him hospitality, and 
ai;Vng him to procure the means for continuing his 
journ *y to the coast. 

Now secure from all the perils of barbarism, he 



junker's appeal. 75 

wrote a letter to Dr. Schweinfurth, expressing his 
emotion at his deliverance, after six weeks' sojourn 
in Uganda, from the hands of the bloody king who had 
murdered the English bishop, and, at the same time, 
exhibiting his deep anxiety on behalf of those whom 
he had left at Wadelai, and who had been so closely 
associated with him in trial and danger. A copy of 
portions of this letter is appended : — 

" English Mission, M'salala, 

Southern extremity of Lake Victoria, 

April 16th, 1886. 

" Dear Friend, — Escaped from the clutches of 
M'Wanga, of Uganda, I reached this place this morn- 
ing, and hasten to take advantage of the first courier 
leaving the Mission for the coast, to send you a few 
lines. 

" Forty porters and a few Zanzibaris have been al- 
ready engaged, and in a few days I hope to continue 
my journey towards Ujiji, thence to Bagamoyo. 

"Is it possible that nothing is being done for these 
unfortunate equatorial provinces? .... Write, my 
dear friend, write ! . . . . Let vigorous articles from 
your pen be at once the means of opening the eyes of 
th« public to the truth. . . . 

"For my part, I shall do what is possible. It is 
absolutely necessary that Emm Bey should at once 
have relief. At Uganda I managed to procure him 
2000 tallaris' worth of cotton goods, in spite of the 
obstacles which M'Wanga threw in the way. These 
were to be conveyed to him by a certain Mohammed 
Bin, but had not been despatched when I was obliged 
to leave. 

" European prestige here is already on the decline. 
It will be a dire disgrace if Europe makes no effort 
now. Let M'Wanga and his agents be put down ! Let 
¥ganda be rescued from their power ! Let Emm Bey 
be delivered from danger ! Let the equatorial provinces 
be re-conquered ! These are the hopes that animate 
me as I come back to Europe. Write to me, I pray 
you. Send me a long letter to Zanzibar. — I close this 
in haste. Your affectionate friend, lost and found 
again, 

"Wilhelm Junker," 



76 THE RELIKI-::XPEDITION. 

When, two months later, these lines were submitted 
to the public in Egypt and in Europe, no one could 
read them unmoved ; they made the state of things so 
clear, and witnessed so unmistakably to the perilous 
situation of Em in, exposed, without provisions or am- 
munition, to the attack of hostile tribes, and espe- 
cially to the treachery of the bloody M'Wanga, that the 
appeal of one who had shared his imprisonment, and 
had escaped only by facing terrible risks, could not 
fail to arrest attention and to excite a generous sym- 
pathy. 

Helped forwards on his journey by the M'salala 
missionaries, Junker reached Ujiji, near Tabora, on 
the 18th of September, whence he had the escort of 
the renowned Tippoo Tib, the Arab trader, who had 
rendered such signal service to Livingstone, Cameron, 
and Stanley, and without further misadventure arrived 
at Zanzibar at the beginning of December. 

On the 10th of January 1887, he landed at Suez, 
where he was met by his brother, the banker of St. 
Petersburg, and by Dr. Schweinfurth. 

He had spent seven years in the heart of Africa. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE RELIEF-EXPEDITION. 

Attempted expeditions of Dr. Fischer and Dr. Lenz— Geographical Society 
of Edinburgh — Routes to Wadclai from the east — The Congo route — For- 
mation of relief-committee in London — Arrival of Stanley in Europe — 
Congo Flotilla placed at his disposal by King of the Belgians— European 
members of expedition — Departure from London — Stanley at Cairo — Tip- 
poo Tib accompanies Stanley — The "Madura" — Start from Zanzibar. 

Three years had passed without any direct com- 
munication with the Europeans blockaded in the 
southern Soudan. 

It was in 1882 that letters had been brought from 
Lupton and Junker to Meshra-er-Kek, and thence 
conveyed to Khartoom by the "Ismailia," the last 
steamer that made the passage of the Upper Nile. 
Amongst those on board on this occasion was Jun- 
ker's assistant, the naturalist, Frederick Bohndorf, 
who was fortunate in getting safely to Egypt, 



TIDINGS OF DR. JUNKER. / / 

Vague rumours from time to time reached Zanzi- 
bar, carried by the ivory traders, that some white 
men with troops were in the vicinity of Lake Albert ; 
and then came the more definite tidings that Junker 
and Casati were safe at Lado, and at no great dis- 
tance from Emm Bey. Whereupon, Dr. Junker's 
brother wrote from St. Petersburg to M. Rohlfs, the 
German consul at Zanzibar, to ascertain the possibil- 
ity of despatching an expedition of relief. He was 
told that if the necessary funds were forthcoming 
such an undertaking was quite practicable, and that 
Dr. Fischer, who had for seven years been physician- 
extraordinary to the Sultan Sai'd-Bargash, and was an 
experienced traveller, would be prepared to take it in 
charge. 

The offer was accepted ; and in August, Dr. 
Fischer, at the head of a large caravan, took his 
departure from the coast. 

Simultaneously with this, another expedition was 
being organised on the Lower Congo, which was to 
be under the command of Dr. Oscar Lenz, an Aus- 
trian, who was well known as an African traveller. 
It was settled that he should endeavour to reach 
Wadelai by way of the Upper Congo. 

Both these expeditions were failures. Dr. Fischer 
found it impossible for airy advance to be made 
beyond Lake Victoria; and Dr. Lenz, having been 
conveyed as far as the Victoria Falls by a steamer 
belonging to the Congo State, was unable to collect a 
caravan that would venture into the unknown lands 
to the north-east: he was obliged, therefore, to con- 
tinue his journey to the south, proceeding by Ny- 
angwe and Lake Tanganyika. 

Meanwhile a letter was received from Mr. Maekay, 
the English missionary in Uganda, stating that he 
had heard that Dr. Junker, after many difficulties, 
had arrived in the Unyoro country, and was only 
awaiting his opportunity to pass through M'Wanga's 
territory and proceed homewards. 

Another year of suspense followed, during which 
great anxiety prevailed ; but at length tidings came 
from Zanzibar announcing that, safe and sound, 
Junker had made his way to the missiomstat : on at 
M'salala. Great was the feeling of relief; and the 



78 THE RELIEF-EXPEDITION. 

general sympathy was stirred afresh when, a month 
later, letters were received from the traveller himself. 

The civilised world was not indifferent to the ap- 
peal now made on behalf of the remaining prisoners 
of the Soudan. A general movement was felt. Dr. 
Schweinfurth took the lead in Egypt ; Dr. Felkin, 
formerly medical officer to the Uganda mission, agi- 
tated the cause in England ; in Germany, France, 
Italy and Belgium the public press and the scientific 
journals alike called attention to the critical situation 
of the surviving representatives of Europe in the dis- 
trict of the Upper Nile. 

To the Geographical Society of Edinburgh belongs 
the honour of taking the initiative in reducing sym- 
pathy to practice. At a meeting, held on the 23rd of 
November 1886, the following resolutions were pro- 
posed and unanimously adopted : — 

" That in consideration of his many services during 
twelve years in Central Africa, rendered not only to 
geography, but to science in general, and in recogni- 
tion of his own personal endurance and of the assist- 
ance he has uniformly given to explorers, the Council 
of this Society deems that Emm Bey well deserves 
the support of the British Government. 

"That the Council does not advocate any military 
expedition being sent to his relief, but believes that 
one of a pacific character might most advantageously 
be undertaken by the British Government. 

"That it seems certain, in the judgment of the 
Council, that an expedition of this nature, traversing 
regions hitherto unexplored, would contribute materi- 
ally to a further geographical knowledge of the inte- 
rior of Africa." 

A copy of these resolutions was forwarded to Lon- 
don, to Lord Iddesleigh, then Foreign Secretary. 

Henceforth, the voice of the public did not let the 
matter rest. The question was no longer whether an 
expedition should be sent, but what route the expe- 
dition should take. 

Three routes, all starting from Zanzibar, were 
suggested. 

First of all, there was that proposed by Mr. Joseph 
Thomson, the Scotch explorer, who offered his own 
services as conductor, This route followed the clirec- 



CHOICE OF ROUTES. 79 

tion which he had himself taken when he had gone to 
the Masai country ; on that occasion he had started 
from Mombas on the coast, and passed through Taveta, 
Nyongo and Njemps, reaching the eastern shore of 
Lake Victoria near Wakala. The journey had occu- 
pied nine months. He now anticipated that he could 
accomplish it in three months, or perhaps four, appar- 
ently forgetting how he had himself been unable to 
make any advance, and ignoring the fact that Dr. 
Fischer, still more recently, had been foiled in his 
efforts to penetrate into the countries populated by 
warlike and hostile tribes. 

A second scheme was advocated by Dr. Felkin. 
Anxious to keep clear of all complications with the 
relentless King of Uganda, he recommended that a 
long detour beyond Lake Victoria should be made in 
the Mwootan Nzige basin. It was a route that would 
necessitate the passage of the caravan through regions 
absolutely unknown, and would bring it into contact 
with a dense population that had obstructed Stanle3 T 's 
progress in 1877. It was not only very long but very 
hazardous, and the voice of prudence might well ask 
whether it was desirable to risk so much where all was 
so uncertain. 

Then, thirdly, there arose involuntarily the thought 
of Stanley. Was not he the right, if not the only 
man, for such an undertaking? The traveller, un- 
daunted and renowned, who had found Livingstone in 
1870, who had crossed Africa from shore to shore, and 
discovered the Congo in 1878, who had formed the 
independent state upon the Congo banks in 1884, was 
not this the leader whose services they should seek ? 
Were not his experience, his energy, his reputation 
amongst the native tribes the surest guarantees upon 
which to rely ? 

Meanwhile it had transpired that Stanley himself 
was ready to co-operate with the organising commit- 
tee ; he would even undertake the conduct of an ex- 
pedition. The route he would recommend would be 
that which he had taken in 1876 ; the journey from 
Zanzibar to Lake Victoria was known, by frequent 
repetition, to be practicable ; beyond the Lake he 
would run the risk of dealing with M'Wanga : he 
would endeavour to enter into negotiations with him : 



80 THE RELIEF-EXPEDITION. 

lie was sanguine that lie could induce him to renew his 
amicable relations with the white man, and thus hav- 
ing" overcome the obstacles, and having obtained per- 
mission to pass through Uganda, he should go to 
Unyoro and Lake Albert, and thence proceed to 
Wadela'i by water. 

Of the three routes thus suggested, the last seemed 
to have most to commend it to approval. It was cer- 
tainly the best known and the most direct ; yet it was 
not to be overlooked that it had the decided disadvan- 
tage of having to be accomplished almost entirely on 
foot. Supposing the expedition to consist of 1000 
men, how many, it must be asked, would hold out, 
' even so far as Lake Victoria ? Before arriving at the 
place of embarkation they would have to tramp more 
than 700 miles, under a burning equatorial sun, every 
one carrying a burden of over seventy pounds. How 
many would desert? how many would succumb to 
fatigue, and die? how many would be struck down 
with fever, and become an encumbrance to the rest. 

Arrived at the Lake, it had further to be considered 
whether it were by any means certain that boats enough 
could be secured to convey the hundreds of men, with 
all the baggage, across. 

But the Lake, after all, was only half way, and it 
was beyond the Lake that the chief difficulties were 
to be apprehended. Who could foretell what dangers 
would be awaiting the caravan in Uganda? At the 
first symptom of hostility the porters would be seized 
with panic ; and what was to hinder them from desert- 
ing en masse? The way from Zanzibar by which they 
had come would be open, and what could prevent them 
from making their way back if they chose ? 
All these considerations had to be weighed. 
It was while the matter was under debate, that the 
writer of the present volume published an article in 
u Le Mouvement Geographique " of December 6, in 
which he proposed the route by way of the Congo and 
Ariwimi. 

The substance of the article was to the following 
effect : — <•' Is there no other route besides those which 
have been already proposed? Why not the Congo? 
Not the Congo with its wide deviation to the south, by 



ADVANTAGES OP THE CONGO ROUTE. 81 

Nyangwe, as followed by Dr. Lenz ; but the Congo as 
far as and along the course of the Aruwimi. 

"From Banana to Matadi the passage by steamer 
takes only thirteen hours. The journey on foot to 
Leopoldville would require from fifteen to twenty 
days. Recently the steamer 'Stanley' has occupied 
only twenty-seven days in ascending the Congo from 
Stanley Pool to the Aruwimi, and when Stanley was 
exploring the river he got up to Yambuya in two 
days more. 

Supposing then that the proper appliances and that 
the necessary porters can be secured, and that no un- 
foreseen hindrances shall arise to prevent a continuous 
advance, it may be reckoned that in thirty-five to 
forty days, or, to take the utmost limit, in two months, 
an expedition might well accomplish the distance be- 
tween Banana and Yambuya, which is just below the 
Aruwimi Falls. It would, moreover, involve no ex- 
cessive exertion, as so large a proportion of the journey 
would be by water. 

" True indeed it is that this point lies on the 
threshold of the unknown ; yet, after all, this ' un- 
known ' may be held to be less alarming than the 
districts of Unyoro and Uganda, which are only too 
i well known.' Upon the Aruwimi both Stanley and 
Grenfell fell in with peaceable tribes, and what merits 
consideration is, that the unexplored tract only ex- 
tends to Sanga, at a distance of little over 130 miles. 
Sanga itself is the residence of a Monbuttoo chief 
who gave Junker a hospitable reception ; while the 
district to the east has been explored, not only by him, 
but likewise by Casati, and in some degree by Emin 
Bey. All these three would no doubt be remembered 
by the inhabitants, whose intentions may still be reck- 
oned to be friendly, so that in all probability the cara- 
van would be well received, and readily supplied both 
with provisions and guides. 

" As to the question of time, it seems to us hardly 
to admit a doubt that Wadelai" would be much more 
quickly reached by the Congo and Aruwimi than by 
any other route from the east coast. In short, it may 
be maintained that by the way which is here proposed, 
it would be possible to arrive at the quarters of Emin 
Bey in five months" 



82 THE RELIEF-EXPEDITION. ) 

It had especially to be taken into account how com- 
paratively easy the advance would be made by the fact 
of 900 miles on the upper river being by water. It 
was likewise an ascertained fact that food was abun- 
dant in the district, and these two facts combined dem- 
onstrated that the caravan would enter the unknown 
region with the men in robust health, not worn out 
by any previous fatigue ; whilst at the same time they 
would have no w^ay open by which they could be 
tempted to desert. 

In England at first the opposition to the Congo 
route was very great. Every one seemed to have a 
preference for the eastern, or what was called "the 
Zanzibar route." The matter remained undecided — -the 
Government took no step — but meanwhile private en- 
terprise was on the alert, and active measures were 
being pushed forward. The wealthy Scotch philan- 
thropist, Mr. Mackinnon, director of the British India 
Steam Navigation Company, was made chairman of 
the organising committee, and with his usual munifi- 
cence, subscribed £10,000 towards an expedition. 
Sir Francis de Winton, formerly administrator-gen- 
eral of the Congo State, took the office of secretary ; 
the Egyptian Government pledged itself to give finan- 
cial support ; the King of the Belgians gave the com- 
mittee the warmest assurances of his sympathy, and 
placed at its disposal, if the Congo route should be 
adopted, a portion of the Upper Congo flotilla ; and to 
crown the whole, Stanley volunteered his personal ser- 
vices, which of course were immediately accepted. 

At that time Stanley w r as in America. Ever inde- 
fatigable in his vocation of advancing the cause of 
Africa, he was holding a series of meetings in the 
large towns of the United States, but he was no 
sooner apprised of the formation of the relief-expe- 
dition than he hurried back to London, where he ar- 
rived on the 27th of December, and from -whence he 
proceeded on the 30th to Brussels. 

Matters now advanced apace ; decisions were 
promptly made and orders were definitely given. 
Communications passed rapidly between London, 
Brussels, Cairo, Zanzibar and the Congo. Egypt 
was requested to furnish a company of Soudanese sol- 
diers, and Sir John Kirk, the British Consul at Zanzi- 



Stanley's European staff. 83 

bar, was instructed to engage several hundred soldiers 
and porters. The Congo route had been deliberately 
and finally chosen. Mr. Mackinnon sent orders to 
Bombay that one of his company's steamers should be 
at Zanzibar in readiness to convey the expedition to 
the mouth of the Congo ; and Stanley lost no time in 
making up his staff of European coadjutors, return- 
ing once more to Brussels to take his leave of King 
Leopold. 

On the 20th of January 1887, the main body of the 
staff left London by the Navarino ; it consisted of 
Major Barttelot of the 7th Fusileers, one of the brav- 
est officers in the Soudan campaign ; Captain Stairs 
of the Eoyal Artillery ; Captain Nelson of the Volun- 
teers ; Lieutenant Jephson ; Surgeon-Major Parke ; 
Mr. Jameson the naturalist ; Mr. Bonney and Mr. 
Ward. They carried with them a large cargo of pro- 
visions and a complete supply of ammunition, one of 
the specialities being a mitrailleuse worked on a novel 
plan, designed by Maxim the engineer, a murderous 
weapon capable of firing six hundred shots a minute, 
and which might prove an effective means of defence 
if any hostile attack/ were made upon them. Lastly, 
there was a steel-plated whale-boat to be navigated 
by either oars or sails, made in twelve sections, so 
as to admit of being carried by hand, and designed 
to facilitate /the river passage and ultimately to be 
launched upon Lake Albert. 

In addition to the eight members of the staff who 
started for Zanzibar there were two others, Mr. Ing- 
ham, and Mr. Troup, a former agent of the Free 
State, who embarked at Liverpool direct for the 
Congo, and were commissioned to engage 1500 natives 
to act as porters in transporting all the baggage along 
the line of the falls, from Matadi to Stanley Pool. 

Stanley himself left London for Egypt via Brindisi, 
on the 21st. By this route he gained several days' 
advance upon the Navarino, and spent the interval in 
Cairo, in consultation with Dr. Schweinfurth and Dr. 
Junker, who had arrived there a fortnight previously. 

It has been asserted that at this date there was an 
entire lack of agreement between the three travellers 
about the proper route to be taken ; it has moreover 
been stated that the Egyptian Government so far 



84 THE RELIEF-EXPEDITION. 

adopted Dr. Junker's views, that the Zanzibar route 
ought to be followed, as to threaten to withdraw its 
support in case any other route were chosen. Such 
representations are by no means fair. It is true that 
at first Dr. Schweinfurth expressed some degree of 
preference for the Zanzibar route, but very soon, like 
Dr. Junker, he acceded to the choice of the Congo 
route ; while as to the Egyptian Government there 
was not the least foundation for what was said ; it 
gave its financial support to the undertaking entirely 
unconditionally, and engaged, moreover, to provide 
the Soudanese soldiers for which it was asked. 

On the 6th of February, Stanley left Cairo for 
Suez, and on the 22nd he reached Zanzibar, where 
he learned that the steamer Madura, which was to 
convey him to the mouth of the Congo, had arrived 
the day before. 

An incident occurred during his brief stay at Zan- 
zibar, which, when known in Europe, created no slight 
sensation. This was the engagement of Tippoo Tib 
as an agent of the Congo Free State. 

Tippoo Tib is the wealthy Arab trader whom Liv- 
ingstone and Cameron found settled at Nyangwe on 
the Lualaba, and who some years later accompanied 
Stanley through part of his descent of the Congo. 
Dr. Lenz and Lieutenant Gleerup during their travels 
visited his depdts on the Lualaba and the Many em a ; 
the Belgian Lieutenant Becker and the Swedish Lieu- 
tenant Webster both transacted business with him, 
and Dr. Junker, as has been mentioned, completed 
his journey from Tabora to Zanzibar under his escort. 
Every one of these travellers gives uniform high 
praise to his intelligence, his trustworthiness, and the 
courtesy of his manners. 

His real name is Hamed-ben-Mohammed, Tippoo 
Tib being a nickname given him on account of a 
peculiar movement of his eyes. 

Lieutenant Becker has written the following de- 
scription of him : u The son of a Zanzibar Arab and a 
Mrima woman, Tippoo Tib has resided for ten years 
in the Manyema district, where he enjoys an un- 
bounded popularity, not only in his own, but in the 
adjoining districts, where he is known as a man who 
would heartily disapprove of any unneighbourly acts. 




TIPPOO TIB. 
(From a Drawing by M. LouU Amelot.) 



TIPPOO TIB. 85 

"From his immense plantations, cultivated by thou- 
sands of slaves, all blindly devoted to their master, 
and from his ivory-trade, of which he has the monop- 
oly, he has in his duplex character of conqueror and 
trader, succeeded in creating for himself in the heart 
of Africa a veritable empire, in which, though he is 
nominally a vassal of the Sultan Said-Bargash, his 
authority is supreme. 

u Though not of pure Arab blood, the Arab charac- 
teristic seems so far predominant in him as to dispose 
him instinctively to the exercise of patriarchal virtues. 
His self-command, his indomitable courage, his capac- 
ity for business, his far-sightedness, his rapid power 
of decision, his unfailing success, and a certain chival- 
rous attractiveness of manner, combine to make him, 
like Mirambo, a kind of hero, celebrated by all the 
rhapsodists of Oriental Africa." 

Apparently Tippoo Tib is about forty-five years of 
age ; he has short grisly hair and beard ; he converses 
with much vivacity, his utterance being concise, ener- 
getic, and decisive. Only let the subject of ivory be 
introduced, and at once he is animated, and his eyes 
gleam with excitement ; he becomes like one of the 
old Calif ornian gold-diggers, who glowed with ecstasy 
when they told of their work, their findings, and their 
hopes. Ivory, in fact, may be said to be his absorb- 
ing thought. To this he owes all his wealth, and con- 
sequently his power, which, according to Wissman, 
who is acquainted with his territory, is much greater 
than is generally known. Owner as he is of numerous 
caravans of armed slaves, which he places under the 
command of his subordinates, he has cultivated large 
tracts of country, and in the course of time has estab- 
lished several very important agricultural settlements. 
It has been insinuated in certain quarters that his vast 
riches have not all been accumulated from irreproach- 
able sources, and that a full statement of his mercan- 
tile transactions would show a somewhat intimate con- 
nection between ivory-dealing and the slave-traffic. 

Be this, however, as it may, he is held in high re- 
pute by the natives, by travellers, and by the Euro- 
peans on the coast, and this reputation has been ac- 
quired by his extraordinary administrative faculty, by 
his prominent position amongst his fellow-traders and 



86 THE RELIEF— EXPEDITION. 

co-religionists, by his hospitality, and most of all, by 
his steadfastness to his word. Already an important 
character in eastern and central Africa, recent events 
have made him a historical person age » 

In January 1885, when Captain Van Gele, as agent 
of the Congo Association, arrived at Stanley Falls, he 
found that Tippoo Tib was established in the neigh- 
bourhood. He made a point of seeing him, and re- 
ceived from him the most satisfactoiy assurances of 
his peaceful intentions towards the white settlers, and 
his great desire to enter into amicable relations with 
them. It turned out, however, that eighteen months 
afterwards, the station, which was guarded only by a 
couple of Europeans and a few black soldiers, was 
attacked by Arabs, and deserted by its little garrison. 
It was true that the affair had taken place while 
Tippoo Tib was absent, and as subsequent inquiries 
showed, it was to be attributed, not so much to any 
positive hostility on the part of the Arabs, as to the 
incapability of the controller of the station, Mr. Deane, 
an Englishman. Yet it could not do otherwise than 
create considerable uneasiness in the Congo State, 
which was only then in process of formation. 

And now, in 1887, having learned that both Tippoo 
Tib and Stanley were at Zanzibar together, the Congo 
Government took advantage of the circumstance to 
seek an explanation as to how it had come to pass that 
the station at the Falls had been assailed. In reply 
to Stanley's inquiry, Tippoo Tib renewed his assur- 
ances of his recognition of the Congo State, expressed 
his deep regret for what had happened, and declared 
that the assault had been made both during his absence 
and without his sanction. 

The Congo Government had a further design. 
Considering that in a country so hard of access for 
European troops, it would be good policy to secure 
the aid of Arab hands towards suppressing raids and 
checking the slave-traffic, and, moreover, reckoning 
that it would be for the interests of civilisation if a 
recognised system of trade and agriculture could be 
established, they instructed Stanley to sound the Arab 
merchant as to whether he would be disposed to take 
office in the service of the Free State itself. 

Accordingly, on the 23rd of February an interview 



CONTRACT WITH TIPPOO TIB. 87 

took place, as the result of which Tippoo Tib was 
definitely appointed Commissioner of the district of 
the Falls. By the covenants of the agreement he un- 
dertook to uphold the authority of the Free State along 
the upper river and its affluents, both at the station 
and lower down at the confluence of the Aruwimi, 
specified as the limit of his district ; and to oppose the 
native chiefs and Arab traders, restraining them in all 
their raids and slave-traffic. 

Criticism, keen and adverse, was awakened by 
the measure. Just as it had been when Gordon pro- 
posed to enlist the co-operation of Zebehr for the paci- 
fication of the Soudan, so now the idea of applying 
to an Arab trader for assistance in suppressing the 
slave-trade seemed unreasonable, if not preposterous. 
No doubt the circumstances were perplexing. It is an 
experiment ; but Tippoo Tib's position is exceptional. 
Unlooked-for results may follow. The future alone 
can determine whether the policy is right or wrong. 
The compact with Tippoo Tib has been based solely 
upon his high repute for fidelity, gained amongst the 
most renowned and most discriminating of African 
explorers. 

One thing which was immediately involved by this 
compact with Tippoo Tib was his co-operation with the 
relief-expedition now about to start. Accordingly it- 
was arranged that he should accompany Stanley to the 
west coast and up the Congo, as far as the Falls sta- 
tion, there providing him with the 600 porters that would 
be required to bring the ivory back from Wadelai. 

At this date Stanley wrote : " When I was in Cairo 
Dr. Junker told me that Emin Bey has in his posses- 
sion about seventy tons of ivory. At eight shillings a 
pound this would be worth more than £60,000. Not 
only would this cover all the expenses of our expe- 
dition, but would make it a financial success. Why 
not bring the ivory to the Congo? It would require 
nothing more than an adequate supply of porters ; and 
this consideration has determined me to negotiate with 
Tippoo Tib, who has contracted to provide me with 600 
men, at the rate of £6 each for a journey from the 
Falls station to Lake Albert and back. As every 
porter carries a load of 70 lbs. we may reckon that 



88 OK THE LOWER CONCO. 

each journey would bring a net value of £12,000 to 
the Falls." 

On his arrival at Zanzibar, Stanley found that every- 
thing had been admirably arranged by Mr. Mackenzie, 
the agent of the British India Steam Navigation Com- 
pany, who had the co-operation of the English Con- 
sul. Provisions and merchandise had been already 
embarked, and the auxiliaries had been gathered to- 
gether, so that Stanley had only at once to go on 
board. During the time that Stanley was negotiating 
his contract with Tippoo Tib, Mr. Mackenzie was pay- 
ing four months' wages in advance to the 623 Zanzi- 
baris who had been hired for the expedition ; they 
were paid in detachments of fifty at a time, and forth- 
with sent in a barge to the Madura. 

Thus far, including the nine Europeans, sixty-three 
Soudanese, and fourteen Somalis, the expedition con- 
sisted of 709 men, who were divided into seven com- 
panies ; to these had now to be added Tippoo Tib with 
his suite of ninety, comprising both sexes, making an 
aggregate of just 800. 

The Madura left Zanzibar on the 24th of February ; 
on the 9th of March she passed the Cape ; and on the 
18th cast anchor in Banana Creek, at the mouth of 
the Congo. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ON THE LOWER CONGO. 

The Congo — The Congo Free State — Its political and judicial organisation 
— Trade settlements — Instructions for aiding Stanley — Arrival of the Ma- 
dura at Banana — Transport flotilla — Boma — Camp atMatadi — Trial-march 
— Start to the interior. 

The Congo claims the seventh place among the 
largest nveis of the world. It is nearly 3000 miles in 
length. In the volume of its waters it has no rival in 
the Eastern hemisphere, this being estimated at more 
than 50,000 cubic yards a second. In the magnitude 
of its current it is surpassed only by the Amazon. It 
rises in the high plateaux of Mouxinga, between 3000 
and 4000 feet above the leve 1 of the sea, and forms in 
two different places a series of rapids. Its course 



ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE. 89 

through Central Africa is often obstructed by islands, 
and extending in width from twelve to eighteen miles, 
describes a vast curve which is twice crossed by the 
Equator. On either side it receives numerous affluents, 
and thus drains a river-basin, which in its area must 
be hardly less than half as large as the whole continent 
of Europe. 

Long ago the Congo would have coustituted the 
principal avenue to the interior had it not been that a 
succession of falls and rapids about 100 miles from 
its mouth completely paralysed all efforts for naviga- 
gation. These rapids, until recently, have had the 
effect of making the Congo a sort of cul-de-sac, a den 
of slavers into which European merchants hesitated 
to venture with any design of forming settlements. 
YThen Stanley for the first time reached the western 
coast on his way from Zanzibar to Nyangwe, a few 
trade-depots were scattered at long intervals aloug 
the shores of the lower river, and Bom a, about 
twenty hours' journey from the coast, was the out- 
post of civilisation and commerce ; for travellers who 
should risk any further advance there was the pros- 
pect of dying of huuger and of perishiug in unkuown 
districts where barbarism reigned supreme. This was 
ten years ago ! 

Such a discovery as Stanley's could not fail to 
awaken the keenest interest. Here was revealed to 
the eyes of Europe a vast region in the heart of 
Africa, rich, fertile, and densely populated, and per- 
meated by a colossal river-way, the mouth of which 
presented the exceptional advantage of being domi- 
nated by no European power. The opportunity for 
commercial enterprise was too fine to be overlooked, 
and accordingly, under the auspices of Leopold, King 
of the Belgians, a conference was held in Berlin, 
which resulted in the formation of the "Congo Free 
State " in the year 1885. 

Since the elate of King Leopold's proclamation, 
announcing the establishment of the new order of 
things, European activity has produced large results 
on the Lower Congo. The conditions of existence 
are improving with singular rapidity, and a political 
organisation has grown into fair proportions without 
provoking any serious opposition from the nathe 



90 ON THE LOWER CONGO. 

chiefs. The administration of the State is carried 
on, in the name of the King, by a Governour-General 
who has the control of every department with its 
proper staff, consisting of about 150 European agents 
distributed over twelve stations. There is a military 
force of about 1000 black soldiers recruited from 
the Haoussa of the Niger and the Bangala of the 
Upper Congo ; these are under the command of Bel- 
gian officers and subalterns. On the lower part of 
the river a sort of police-inspection is maintained by 
the employment of six steamboats, which are service- 
able also, as occasion arises, for the conveyance of 
the officials. In addition to these there are five other 
steamers on the Upper Congo. 

To provide against such infringements of the laws 
of morality as seem to demand immediate repression 
a penal code has been issued ; but this is only tempo- 
rary in its character, and is to be replaced, as soon as 
experience will allow, by a more definite classification 
of crimes and award of punishments. The present 
is a transition state between the social anarchy of the 
past and the future reign of law. A court of justice 
is established at Banana, with a court of appeal at 
Boma. 

A postal service exists, and the State moreover has 
entered the convention of the Postal Union. Offices 
of the civil service are open in three departments. 
To ensure the stability of property and to provide 
security for any investment of capital, a State Regis- 
ter has been established. In its general principles 
the Congo Land Law is founded upon the "Torrens 
Act," a system which has been a practice in Australia 
since 1858, and has likewise been adopted by France, 
in Tunis. For the registration of titles to land plans 
have already been made, by a special survey, of all 
the districts on the lower river where there are any 
European settlements. 

All trade on the Congo, as is generally known, is 
quite free. The State, by its international agree- 
ments, is prohibited from levying either import or 
transport duty : its only privilege is to receive an 
export-duty on certain of the productions of the State 
territory, but even this is very moderate, and rarely 



PROGRESS OE THE CONGO STATE. 91 

amounts to more than four per cent, on the value of 
the goods. 

The French were the first to establish any mer- 
chant-settlement on the Congo. In 1855, the house 
of Regis & Co. of Paris (now Daumas, Beraud & 
Co.) planted a depot on Banana Point, which still 
retains the name of " French Point;" in subsequent 
years came the Dutch, followed by the Portuguese 
and English, and finally in 1885 by the Belgians. 

In 1876, just before the date at which Stanley first 
arrived at Roma on his way from the interior, there 
were upon the banks of the Lower Congo thirty-three 
factories and branch-factories. Ten years later, re- 
sulting mainly from the impetus given by the enter- 
prise of the Congo Association, this number was 
nearly tripled, so that in 1886 there were eighty-five 
establishments on the Lower Congo alone. In addi- 
tion to these fifteen other stations belonging to the 
State, either mission-stations or business-marts, com- 
pleted the chain of civilising and hospitable centres 
along the line of the Falls from Matacli to Leopold- 
ville. There are now nine stations upon Stanley 
Pool and ten upon the Upper Congo. Hence it will 
be seen that upwards of fifty new settlements have 
been made upon the banks of the river which ten 
years since might have been described as practically 
unknown. 

Progress such as this bears striking testimony to 
the far-sightedness of those who from the very first 
recognised the Congo as a promising avenue for car- 
rying civilisation into the heart of Africa, and open- 
ing the rich resources of the country to European 
trade. 

There is no room for question that the Congo is 
the one great river-highway for Equatorial Africa. 
Either by its own proper course or by its larger afflu- 
ents it leads to the confines of Katanga, Manyema, 
the Soudan and the basin of the Upper Nile. So 
great are the comparative facilities that it offers for 
transport, and so comparatively certain is the security 
that prevails along its course that, notwithstanding its 
wide deflections, it could not reasonably fail to be 
proposed and finally to be adopted as the route which 
should be taken by the expedition now fitted out for 



92 OK THE LOWER COHGO. 

the relief of Emm Bey : nor was any one so likely to 
appreciate the advantages it offered as Stanley, who 
had himself been the first to make known its eligibil- 
ity to the world. 

Obviously all the European settlements along the 
river would be fresh starting-points for the expedi- 
tion, while the river itself would convey their steam- 
ers and whale-boats nearly a thousand miles inland : 
added to this there was the assurance of co-opera- 
tion of the local government, to which the following 
instructions had been sent from Brussels by Gen- 
eral Strauch, the Minister of the Interior: — "His 
Majesty the King, having been requested to authorise 
the State to aid the relief -expedition, undertakes to 
place at its disposal the Stanley and two steel-plated 
barges for two, or if need be, for three months. It 
was with reference to this that I sent you the tele- 
gram on the 15th of January, desiring you to give 
orders that the Stanley should be at Leopold ville on 
the 1st of April ready to ascend the river. 

" In addition to the agreement, the conditions of 
which I now forward, the King has likewise promised 
the English committee that Mr. Stanley shall receive 
whatever assistance our agents in Africa can give him, 
saving all detriment to the interests of the State. 

" This is no legal contract in the full sense of the 
word ; it is simply a promise made upon the part of 
the King ; but His Majesty is most anxious that it 
should be fulfilled ; he does not entertain a doubt that 
our agents in Africa, many of whom are devoted men, 
will exert themselves, within the limits specified, to 
give their co-operation, even though it should entail 
upon them a certain amount of trouble ; and he trusts 
that all of them will be desirous of saying that they 
have contributed to the success of an undertaking de- 
signed to relieve valiant soldiers who are so endeavour- 
ing to retain the last corner of the Soudan that it may 
not fall back into the grasp of barbarism." 

In due time the expedition arrived. At eight o'clock 
on the morning of March 18th the Madura steamed 
into the harbour of Banana and cast anchor in front 
of the French factory. Two hours previously she had 
been signalled in sight, and the entire population of 
the place, white and black, thronged to the quay to 



START OE THE RIVER FLOTILLA. 93 

await the arrival of the ship and to give her welcome. 
In the harbour was an exceptionally large concourse 
of steamers ; there were the Heron and the Prince 
Baudoin of the Congo State Navy ; the Cacongo of 
the Portuguese Royal Navy ; the Serpa Pinto, belong- 
ing to the Portuguese firm of Valle and Azevedo ; the 
Nieman, to the Dutch factory ; the Albuquerque, to 
the British Congo Company ; the Angola, to the Eng- 
lish firm of Hatton & Cookson ; a steamer belonging 
to the line of Woermann & Co. of Hamburg ; and 
lastly the Lys, of the line of Walford & Co. of Ant- 
werp, which was lying in melancholy plight on one 
of the sand-banks of the creek, where she had run 
aground two days before, through the carelessness of 
her captain. 

No time was lost. Scarcely had the Madura made 
good her holdings, when the leader of the expedition 
proceeded in a pilot-boat to shore, intent upon satisfy- 
ing himself at once as to what means of transport were 
available. Stanley is not only a bold aud enterprising 
explorer, but it would seem as if the star of his good 
fortune never fails him ; and now again it was sbiirnff 
favourably, inasmuch as it was a most fortuitous cir- 
cumstance that so unusually large a number of steam- 
vessels should be assembled at one time at Banana. 
Not the least difficulty arose in securing the necessary 
assistance ; the controllers of the factories and the 
commander of the Portuguese gunboat were equally 
ready and courteous in helping to forward men and 
baggage to Matadi. 

The arrival of Tippoo Tib on board the Madura, 
and his appointment as agent of the Congo State, was 
the cause of as much surprise in Banana as in Europe. 
He did not land with Stanley, but remained on the 
ship, where the hundreds of men that formed the ex- 
pedition were drawn up in perfect order and discipline, 
singularly in contrast with the usual habits of negroes 
when associated in any numbers. Good training was 
already beginning to tell. 

Next clay the change of ships w^as effected without 
commotion or accident, and the flotilla commenced the 
ascent of the- river past Boma to Matadi. The Albu- 
querque and the Nieman took the lead with the Zanzi- 
baris and the Somali s on board ; the Serjia Pinto fol- 



94 (M Th£ LOWER CONGO* 

lowed, Carrying Stanley and Tippoo Tib ; tlieii Game 
the Heron, and lastly the Cacongo with the Egyptian 
detachment. In this order the steamers arrived on 
the -20th in the roadstead of Boma, where they stayed 
awhile, without shutting off their steam, to allow 
Stanley to make a short visit on shore. 

For about a year Boma has been the seat of the 
local administration of the Free State, removed from 
Vivi where it had been originally established. It is 
also the residence of the Governour-General. The 
roadstead is very fine, more than half a mile in width 
and varying in depth from three to ten fathoms. The 
whole -settlement is rapidly extending. Already its 
buildings of wood and iron, scattered along the river- 
bank and running up to the high ground at the back, 
present an appearance that is exceedingly picturesque. 
Factories of various nations, Dutch, French, Portu- 
guese and English, are erected on the shore, where 
also are to be seen the different departmental offices 
of the land-survey, the post, the customs and the ship- 
ping. Upon the high ground of the plateau, which is 
before long to be connected with the quay-level by a 
short -railway, stand the house of the Governour-Gen- 
eral, the residences of the public officials engaged in 
the works or connected with finance, the sanatorium, 
and the barracks for the garrison. Over the interven- 
ing slopes are scattered the quarters of the black de- 
pendents, little villages of Haoussa, Bangala, Kabinda, 
Krooboys, Kaffirs and B c >ngo. Close to the river 
there is likewise a mission served by French priests ; 
and a little lower down on the island of Mateba is a 
Belgian agricultural settlement founded by M. Roubaix 
of Antwerp. 

It is but a few years since the white population of 
Boma was under twenty-five in number ; now, includ- 
ing Mateba, it must amount to about 120, of whom 
nearly half have some share in the administration of 
the State. Its black population, composed exclusively 
of soldiers and labourers on the Government works or 
in the factories, numbers not less than 500. The gar- 
rison is 200 strong, and is composed of one company 
of Haoussa recruits from the Niger basin and^another 
of Bangala from the Upper Congo : they wea«r uniform 
and are armed with Schneider rifles. 



TRIAL MARCH. 95 

Stanley's stay on shore at Boma was very brief, and 
having received some of the chief Government officials 
who visited him on the Serpa Pinto, he resumed the 
voyage to Matadi, arriving there about five o'clock the 
same evening. 

Matadi is a group of little European settlements on 
the left bank of the Congo, almost exactly opposite 
Vivi. There is a Government station, and a Dutch 
and a Portuguese factory. It is the starting point on 
the pedestrian route along the south bank to Stanley 
Pool, and will in all probability be the site of the ter- 
minus of the railway which is in project. 

In due order the disembarkment was made on the 
following day. The expedition took up its quarters 
on an open plot of ground not far from the Portuguese 
factory. It was the first drill in the wa} 7 of encamp- 
ment. All the different burdens were collected to- 
gether, including the sections of the whale-boat and 
the mitrailleuse. Besides these there were the Zanzi- 
bar donkeys provided as mounts for the Europeans 
and Arabs, and the herd of Cape sheep anel goats that 
were destined to supply the table of the officials along 
the way. 

Before starting for good along the roadway past the 
rapids, which Stanle} 7 knew by personal toil to be ex- 
tremely arduous, he resolved to make an experimental 
march out, and to have a preliminary practice in the 
method of encamping. Accordingly he gave the nec- 
essary instructions to his coadjutors, and the whole 
caravan being divided, as it has been saiel, into seven 
sections of over one hundred, each under the command 
of a European, it was conducted, baggage anel all, to 
an open place that seemed suited to the purpose. 
. Mounted on a donkey that had been handsomely 
caparisoned for the occasion, Stanley took the heael 
of the column. By his siele marched one of his boys, 
bearing the stars anel stripes of the American banner ; 
an overt demonstration that notwithstanding his Eng- 
lishjbirth, anel in spite of his being in the service of 
the ruler of the Congo anel in command of an Anglo- 
Egyptian expedition, he does not forget, nor intend it 
to be forgotten, that he is an adopted citizen of the 
United States, 

Everything was done well and in order, Tbe cara- 



96 ON THE LOWER CONGO. 

Van unwound itself like a huge serpent along the river 
bank, and received orders to make a second encamp- 
ment near the station. 

On another day, a trial was made of the Maxim 
mitrailleuse, which was pointed across the river and 
discharged with startling effect. 

Four days were passed at Matadi, partly in organ- 
isation, partly in rest, the actual start for the interior 
being made on the 25th of March. 

In the early morning, at half-past four, the camp 
was aroused by the sound of a shrill and piercing blast. 
This proceeded from a kind of marine fog-horn pro- 
vided with a huge gong and worked by a piston, de- 
signed to be used for the daily reveille. Instantane- 
ously every one was on the stir, and for a quarter of 
an hour the hubbub and confusion of 800 negroes 
rushing about everywhere, shouting and gesticulating, 
were inconceivably great. Hard work had the eight 
Europeans of the staff, as they galloped backwards 
and forwards on their donkeys, to bring about any- 
thing like method ; but they ultimately succeeded, and 
gradually calmness was restored, and the caravan was 
duly arranged in marching order. 

In the vanguard were the Soudanese soldiers ; then 
followed the Somalis, the Zanzibaris and the porters 
with their loads ; Tippoo Tib and his people fell into 
their allotted place ; the twelve sections of the whale- 
boat were distributed, each to be carried by two bear- 
ers, and the flocks were sent to the rear of the column. 
Then the various banners were unfurled and floated 
gaily along the line ; the standard of the " Emin Re- 
lief Expedition " was in front side by side with Stan- 
ley's American flag ; then there were the standards of 
England and of Egypt ; and besides these the Arab 
oriflammes, glittering with their inscriptions from the 
Koran. Thus was the caravan marshalled ready to 
start. 

Another blast from the horn and the caravan was on 
the move. The Emin Pasha expedition had indeed set 
out for the interior ! 

It was now two months since Stanley had started 
from London ; he had reckoned that if no impediment 
should arise to hinder him, he should in about five 
months arrive where he would be close to Eniin's quar- 



THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS. 97 

ters. Immediately before him now lay a journey of 
hardly less than 2000 miles, well nigh the same dis- 
tance as there is between Madrid and St. Petersburg. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS. 

The Congo in the district of the Falls — Progress of European occupation — 
Proposed line of railway — The rock of Palaballa — Caravan route — Passage 
of the Luvu — A native market — Passage of the Kuiln — Mount Bidi — Sta- 
tion of Lukungu and adjacent settlements — The Bakone:o — Service of por- 
ters — M>. Ingham and Mr. Rose Troup — The River Inkissi — Arrival at 
Stanley Pool. 

Parallel to the coast of Africa, and at no great 
distance from it, there lies a range of low mountains, 
formed on the edge of the plateaus, the uniformity of 
which is broken at intervals by some isolated peaks. 
Across this coast-chain the waters collected in the cen- 
tral plains have hollowed out for themselves channels 
along which they escape towards the sea, and these 
channels are shut in by rocky cliffs between which the 
streams roll on with an impetuous rush. 

Of these water-courses none is so noted, nor at 
the same time so wild and romantic, as that along 
which pours the enormous volume of the waters of the 
Congo. Between Matadi and Leopoldville the stream 
is interrupted by no less than thirty-two falls or rap- 
ids, every one of which presents a spectacle of real 
magnificance. 

Imagination may well conceive of the river-bed as a 
gigantic staircase, some 200 miles in length, descend- 
ing from an altitude of 800 feet, and divided by thirty- 
two steps all differing in width and height ; it is en- 
closed on either hand by rocky banks, and ever and 
again obstructed by dark projecting reefs and blocks 
of stone of every size and shape. Such is the Cyclo- 
pean channel along which rushes the Congo. It is the 
monarch of the Okl-\Yorld rivers, here in its infant 
course spreading out into an expanse of water some 
2000 or 3000 yards wide, and here again contracting 
itself to a breadth of 300 yards, but continuously 
gaining in its depth and velocity what it loses in its 



98 THE CONGO. 

superficial extent. At every angle of the channel 
through which it rolls it seems to assume a different 
character ; in one place it appears to be possessed 
with a furious rage that is indomitable, as it precipi- 
tates itself into an amphitheatre of rocks where the 
waters whirl in tumultuous eddies and dashing them- 
selves against the granite crags are mingled in terrific 
chaos ; at another place, after having continued its 
wild career for some miles (as at the rapids of Nsongo 
and Lumba) , the foaming billows of the river gradu- 
ally subside and are lulled to rest, till they spread 
themselves out in the tranquillity of a placid lake. 

The calm, however, is all a delusion ; soon again the 
still waters are animated with redoubled fury ; once- 
more they dash forward with increased velocity, and 
finding a yet steeper slope, they hurl themselves into 
another of the romantic gorges, where they renew their 
ebullitions with an awful roar. 

On either side of the river, as thus it tears along its 
impetuous course, are lines of hills, often rising into 
peaks with bare summits, broken either by sloping 
valleys or by deep ravines, the sides of which are 
clothed with tall rank grass, except in parts where 
they are marshy, or covered with dense forests. 

Such is the region of the Falls ; such is the giant 
barrier which Nature has erected almost adjacent to 
the mouth of the Congo, as though she desired to 
throw every impediment she could in the way of ac- 
cess to these regions of Africa, and to do her utmost 
to provide a bulwark to defend the wealth of the in- 
terior. For three centuries every effort of the intruder 
has been baffled ; the barrier has been effectual to re- 
buff every expedition that has been taken in hand, and 
has defied each successive attempt to penetrate the 
secrets of the mysterious land. 

It was reserved for Stanley to overcome the obsta- 
cle, but the achievement was accomplished at the cost 
of enormous labour and large sacrifice of life. 

In 1877, when he was in command of the expe- 
dition that had been started under the joint auspices 
of the New York Herald and the Daily Telegraph, he 
took no less than five months in descending the river 
from Stanley Pool to Boma, his progress being per- 
petually impeded both by the practical difficulties of 



THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS. 99 

the road and by the hostility of the natives. On 
the way he lost fifteen of his men, including Frank 
Pocock, the last of his European associates. 

Two years later he again appeared upon the scene, 
this time under commission from the King of the Bel- 
gians, and at the head of an expedition for " the 
survey of the Upper Congo." Carrying sections of 
steamers and buildings, as well as a variety of materi- 
als in his train, he spent a further two years in making 
his way up from Vivi to Stanley Pool. During this 
time six Europeans and fifty natives died, whilst fif- 
teen other white men became so unwell that they were 
obliged to return. Such was the original balance-sheet 
of that memorable enterprise that bears so striking a 
testimony to the unwavering confidence, the rare cour- 
age, and the indomitable energy of its leader. 

At present no less than twelve European settlements 
mark out the new route, and more than 5000 native 
porters are at the service of the white men, making a 
journey in perfect safety from Matadi to Leopoldville 
in twenty days, conveying European merchandise to 
the Pool, and bringing back large cargoes of ivory 
from the upper districts to the steamers on the river 
below. 

Considerable, however, as is the progress made 
within the last six years, it does not yet satisfy the 
requirements of the pioneers of civilisation. Looking 
to the fertile lands of the interior, and taking account 
of the vast regions, alike wealthy and populous, that 
are drained by the immense navigable network of the 
Upper Congo, they cannot fail to realise that so long 
as these districts are unconnected with the sea by some 
quick and easy means of communication, they must 
necessarily continue, in spite of their rich promise, to 
be comparatively uncultivated and unproductive. 

It was in view of this that Captain Van de Velde 
took upon himself to say : " Even for the organisation 
of a transport service either of horses and mules or of 
waggons drawn by oxen, it would be necessary to make 
a wide and substantial roadway, as well as to throw per- 
manent bridges over the ravines and torrents, a system 
entailing large importations of draught cattle, which 
would further involve the establishment of farms, studs, 
and places of pasturage. But the time for all this is 

LofC. 



100 PROPOSED RAILWAY. 

over ! The day of vans and waggons is gone ; it is 
only steam that can be adopted as an economical 
method of traction. Locomotives do not suffer from 
the climate ; they require no veterinary skill, a native 
smith can suffice ; meanwhile for fodder all they want 
is wood, of which the district of the Congo supplies 
ample store ; and even this may be dispensed with 
when they are worked by electricity generated by the 
motive power of the cataracts." 

It has been resolved accordingly that a railroad 
should be constructed. Already a party of French 
and Belgian engineers, under the direction of Messrs. 
Cambier and Charmanne, is engaged in the survey of 
the land between Matacli and the Pool, with the de- 
sign of ascertaining the best route and of estimating 
the cost. If Stanley could have had these locomotives 
of the future at his disposal a few days would have 
sufficed for the transport of his 800 men with their 
1500 packages to Stanley Pool without fatigue, an un- 
dertaking which on foot, along the rough tracks of* the 
caravans, could only be accomplished by a mouth's 
hard marching. 

Beyond Matadi, after the passage of the Mpozo, 
the first obstacle on the way is the rock-wall of Pal- 
aballa. This is crossed by a steep path bordered by 
blocks of white quartz. At its summit, which is about 
2000 feet above sea-level, is a flourishing settlement 
founded by the English Baptist Mission ; and the vast 
mountain panorama viewed from thence opens before 
the traveller some idea of the country he has to cross, 
and indicates the difficulties he must have to encounter. 

The caravan road is a mere footpath, rarely more 
than thirty inches wide, winding through a stifling 
labyrinth of grass several yards high. Long and 
toilsome ascents under the glare of the African sun 
are succeeded by descents equally wearisome leading 
to the marshes in the hollow of the deep ravines. 
At intervals along the slopes there are extensive 
groves of palm-trees or bananas, baobabs also being 
not uncommon. On the lower ground the way pro- 
ceeds through fine forests, thick with trees of various 
species, connected one with another by wreaths of 
creepers that form verdant arches overhead, and are 
the resort of the widow-bird, with its black plumage 



THE DISTRICT OF THE PALLS. 101 

and long tail, as well as of countless smaller birds 
resembling bengalis, which rise in swarms as their 
solitude is disturbed. Only in single file is it possible 
for any caravan to make advance, so that the expedi- 
tion with its 750 men would be extended for a length 
little short of half a mile. 

On the 29th of March Stanley reached the Luvu, 
one of the affluents of the Congo on its southern 
bank. Across this river the agents of the Free State 
have formed a suspension-bridge of iron rods at- 
tached to baobabs on either bank, a structure of 
which white men and Zanzibaris avail themselves, but 
so frail that the natives, as a rule, hesitate to trust 
their feet upon it, as it oscillates so suspiciously 
under their weight. 

Beyond Palaballa the country is almost reduced to 
the condition of a desert, mainly in consequence of the 
withdrawal of the natives from the neighbourhood of 
the caravan routes. This they have done not from any 
fear of the white man, whom the}^ are disposed to trust 
entirely, but through the depredations of the negro 
porters, who have no sense of any rights of property 
save the rights of the strongest. With the recent 
increase of the caravan traffic between Matadi and 
Leopoldville the damage done to the plantations ad- 
jacent to the line of route became more and more 
intolerable ; while in addition to this, the soldiers, 
Haoussa, Zanzibari, or Bangala, who were engaged 
for escort, would perpetually commit outrages which 
the European was powerless to repress. The natives, 
therefore, recognised the expediency of retiring fur- 
ther off ; they removed their huts, and re-erected 
them at such a distance from the line of thoroughfare 
as they concluded would render their homesteads safe 
from the attacks of such marauders. It followed, as 
a consequence of this migration, that on entering the 
district Stanley's 750 men had nothing to depend on 
from the products of the place. They found them- 
selves without the opportunity of providing their req- 
uisite supplies, because there were no longer any of 
the accustomed markets to which the inhabitants of 
the villages within reach of the route had hitherto 
been sending she produce of their fields, their hunting- 
grounds, and their fisheries. Even in the interior of 



102 AN AFRICAN MARKET. 

the country when the report was circulated that the 
notorious Boula Matari was advancing with 1000 men, 
all armed with guns, the alarm was so great that for 
a week the ordinary market-places were quite deserted. 

Very notable are these markets as demonstrating 
the commercial capabilities of the natives, which are 
quite surprising. A visit to one of them, that of 
Kuzo-Kienzi, is described by Captain Thys : "Here," 
he says, "is a gathering of between 200 and 300 
salespeople of both sexes, with their variety of goods 
displayed either in baskets or spread out on banana 
leaves, a throng of purchasers meanwhile moving to 
and fro and inspecting the commodities. The women, 
who are more numerous than the men, squat down in 
front of their goods and exhibit a peculiar aptitude 
for their occupation ; they solicit the attention of the 
passer-by, they eulogise the quality of what they offer 
to sell, they exclaim indignantly when a price is ten- 
dered below the proper value, and with insinuating 
smile beguile their customers to make a purchase. 
The sale of vegetables is entirely committed to the 
women. 

" The enumeration of the articles exhibited for sale 
comprises a long list. At Kuzo-Kienzi I have myself 
seen goats, pigs, fowls, fish (both fresh and smoke- 
dried), hippopotamus-meat and hides, rows of spitted 
rats, locusts, shrimps, sweet potatoes, maize, haricot 
beans, green peas, yams, bananas, earth-nuts, eggs, 
manioc ( cooked as well as raw ) , manioc-bread, made 
up both into rolls and long loaves, pine-apples, sugar- 
cane, palm-nuts, tobacco-leaves in considerable quan- 
tity, palm-wine supplied either in jars procured from 
the coast or in their own native calebashes, cabbages, 
sorrel, spinach, pimento, and punnets of mixed salad 
arranged very much as in our European market-gar- 
dens. In addition to these I noticed a few small lots 
of ivory, strong ropes of native manufacture, mats, 
European stuffs in considerable variety, powder, glass, 
pottery, beads — in short, almost every conceivable 
kind of ware. 

"Avenues run through the market-place, which is 
divided into sections each appropriated to its own 
kind of merchandise ; in one place is the ivory-mart, 



THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS. 103 

in another the tobacco- mart, by far the greater allot- 
ments being assigned to the vegetable department. 

"There are three kinds of currency in use — the 
handkerchief, the mitaku, which is brass-wire, and the 
blue bead known as ' matare.' A class of men who 
may be described as a sort of money-changers have 
their own proper quarters, effecting such exchanges as 
the business of the market may require. 

u As an ordinary rule traffic would commence about 
ten in the morning and be continued till nearly four in 
the afternoon ; and the close of the market I must re- 
luctantly report is characterised by those scenes of 
disorder which not unfrequently are witnessed in the 
like circumstances at home. Immoderate drinking as 
ever provokes angry disputes, the intoxicating palm- 
wine being here the substitute for beer and gin." 

To fall in with such a bustling market as this would 
have been an inestimable boon to the caravan which, 
with the exception of a few porters who had succumbed 
to illness or fatigue, safely reached the Lukunga, in 
good order, on the 8th of April. 

A pleasing exception is the Lukunga to the general 
aspect of the Congo-banks in the region of the Falls. 
Its valley is fertile, and the soil well adapted to the 
cultivation of any kind of tropical produce, so that at- 
tempts have been already made to promote the growth 
of mountain-rice, coffee, eucalyptus, and other crops. 

Stretched across the landscape on the far side of the 
Lukunga lies the Ndunga range, the loftiest in the en- 
tire district, from the middle of which, rearing itself 
some 800 feet above the surrounding eminences, is a 
quartzose projection, known as Mount Bidi. The sum- 
mit of this commands an extensive view. At the base 
of the mountain, between the Congo on the north and 
the village of Lutete on the east, are valleys rich in 
vegetation and abounding in plantations, from which 
the requirements of many villages are supplied. Fur- 
ther off is a succession of extensive plains, on which 
dark green tracts indicate the position of other villages 
nestling in the shelter of their venerable " safos." 

It is here at the Lukunga that the second portion of 
the Falls district is reached. Here, too, seems to be 
the boundary beyond which the grasping, idle native, 
brutalized by alcohol, is no longer to foe seen, m to m 



104 EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS. 

on the lower river ; lie is replaced by the negro, sturdy 
and industrious, who for centuries has maintained busi- 
ness relations both with the Pool and with the Portu- 
guese colony of Angola. 

There are six European settlements in the district. 
One station belonging to the State is at Lukungu, and 
another at Manyanga-South ; at Lukungu, too, there 
is an American mission ; an English Baptist mission 
lias been settled at Lutete ; a Eotterdam firm has a 
store at Ndunga ; and the Belgian Society for trade 
with the Upper Congo, of which the headquarters are 
at Brussels, maintains a station at Manyanga-South. 

The country generally is well-populated. N either 
caravans nor negro porters are objects of terror to the 
natives, who, living as they do in such near proximity 
to the white men, feel themselves assured of adequate 
protection. 

The indigenous population mainly belong to the 
Ba kan go tribe. They occupy the southern bank of 
the river from the Congo-Portuguese frontier near 
Nokki as far as Stanley Pool. Chiefly agriculturists, 
they, however, do a considerable trade in ivory, palm- 
oil, caoutchouc, and earth-nuts. To procure their 
ivory they make long journeys eastward, and thus 
become intermediate agents between the tribes of the 
interior and the factories that have been planted on 
the lower river and on the coast. Although their own 
country abounds in elephants, they rarely hunt them, 
apparently not having weapons sufficiently strong to 
attack such pachyderm ata. 

Distinct communities are formed by the various ag- 
glomerations of huts. In the districts near the river 
the hamlets are somewhat scattered and small ; but in 
the interior where the population is more dense, vil- 
lages of considerable magnitude exist ; for instance, 
Mwala, in the Inkissi basin, visited by Lieut. Hack- 
inson of the Congo State in 1886, might without im- 
propriety be called a town, as it reckons 2000 inhab- 
itants. 

Throughout the region there are very few chiefs 
possessing anything like absolute power or authority, 
either on account of their wealth or of any terror they 
can inspire. Formerly there were some leaders with 
pretensions to be potentates who succeeded more or 



THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS. 105 

less in establishing a kind of sovereignty and in ex- 
acting tribute, but these have now disappeared. As 
matter of fact the title of u prince " which is now 
given to the ostensible village chief on the Lower 
Congo is quite inaccurate. Sovereignty, as we in Eu- 
rope understand it, does not exist among the Bakongo. 
The recognized chief is generally the oldest freeman ; 
the others consult him, respect his opinion and yield 
him homage, but they pay him no tribute and are un- 
der no obligation to obey him. It might almost be 
said that with certain limitations every Bakongo is his 
own chief. 

This peculiar political organisation, and, combined 
with it, the singular aptitude for trade exhibited by 
the natives, constitute two highly important factors in 
the future of the new State ; and it was these consid- 
erations that led Colonel de Win ton, the former Ad- 
ministrator-General, to maintain that he did not be- 
lieve that throughout the uncivilised world there ex- 
isted a territory which for security to Europeans and 
for commercial prospects offered such advantages as 
the basin of the Congo. It is noteworthy that during 
the ten years or more in which Europeans have been 
exploring the country, neither in French Congo nor in 
Free State Congo has one single ivJiite man lost his 
life by any assault on the part of the natives. 

Agriculture amongst the Bakongo is on a somewhat 
advanced line ; and they have a large variety of crops, 
such as maize, manioc, yams, sweet potatoes, earth- 
nuts, egg-plants, cabbages, and beans. They also 
grow palms, sugar-canes, cotton, and tobacco, as well 
as many kinds of fruit-trees, including bananas, gua- 
vas, and citrons. Each village is surrounded by its 
own plantation, and the inhabitants never suffer from 
deficiency of food. 

Cotton is used for sewing purposes ; and a kind of 
grass, as well as the fibre of the pine-apple, which 
grows very abundantly, furnishes material for the 
manufacture of some serviceable fabrics. 

A strong, industrious race are the Bakongo, thor- 
oughly alive to the conviction that they must work if 
they would live. They are very keen in their desire 
to obtain goods of European make ; and it is for -the 
sake of procuring them that the young men are ready 



106 TRANSPORT SERVICE. 

to be hired as porters, an occupation in itself far more 
toilsome than field labour. Already the people are 
beginning to develop a certain amount of taste ap- 
proaching to luxury in the construction and internal 
arrangements of their dwellings, so that a chief will 
replace his hut by a house of plaster or of wood. More 
than in other districts the women are in a subordinate 
position, for as the men themselves do the field-work, 
they are more exacting of their wives in other duties. 
All the valleys being under cultivation, there are com- 
paratively few of the wooded gorges that are frequent 
in other parts of the country. 

It is especially in the district between Manyanga, 
Lukungu, and Lutete that the natives are recruited as 
porters for the transport service which has now regu- 
larly established itself, and is in active operation 
between the Lower and the Upper Congo. 

For the service between Matacli and Manyanga, 
Lukungu is the chief hiring centre. The " Capitas," 
or conductors of caravans, are engaged there. These 
agents, having first received their " Mokande" by way 
of license or permit, present themselves with their 
men to the Controller at Matadi. Here the loads are 
given out, an average weight of seventy pounds being 
assigned to each porter. The Capita takes charge of 
the whole, superintends the transport all the way to 
Manyanga, where upon due delivery of the goods he 
receives a form of acknowledgement, which he carries 
back to Lukungu, where he obtains his payment for 
the transaction. 

Manyanga itself is the centre for engaging porters 
to proceed to the Pool. They come chiefly from the 
environs of Lutete and the neighbourhood of the river 
Inkissi, and do not fail in numbers. At present 
there are several thousand young men from eighteen 
to twenty-five years of age who are not unwilling to 
be hired by the month, and this in a country where 
seven years ago the representatives of the Congo Asso- 
ciation were almost baffled in their efforts to get any 
help whatever. The explanation of the altered con- 
dition of things is found in the fact that during the in- 
terval children have not only grown to be young men, 
but have had such peaceable associations with Euro- 
peans, learning the value qf. tll^ir commodities, that 111 



THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS. 107 

order to procure them for themselves they are anxious 
to engage themselves in their service. Thus it has 
been brought about that Lukungu, Lutete, and Man- 
yanga all contribute towards the supply of porters, so 
that for some time to come there is no likelihood of 
any deficiency of labour of this kind. Every day the 
" wants " of the native population are increasing ; cloth- 
ing is becoming general, the use of sandals is getting 
more and more common, and in this region, where the 
nights and early mornings are chilly, there is nothing 
more prized than a rug or blanket of some kind. To 
become the owner of such novelties the native is ready 
to undertake almost any task upon which the white 
man may employ him : at present he is only a porter ; 
but there is nothing in the way of his becoming a navvy 
or an artisan. 

Lieutenant Fran qui, who for two years had been in 
charge of the station of Lukungu, has demonstrated 
the extraordinary impulse given to the transport ser- 
vice between Matadi and Leopoldville in 1887, which 
was just the date of the passage of the expedition. 
His figures speak for themselves. 

u Some internecine wars," he says, " and more 
especially the discontent of the natives, who had mis- 
givings about the competition which would arise from 
rival commercial establishments being settled at Leo- 
poldville, caused a temporary check in the supply of 
porters. 

" At the beginning of 1887 loads were accumulat- 
ing on the lower river, and the condition of things was 
becoming more serious because further large trans- 
ports were known to be on the way. Already the 
storehouses at Matadi contained upwards of 4000 
packages, representing over 100 tons weight, whilst 
the arrival had been notified of the steamers Ville de 
Bruxelles and Roi cles Beiges bringing 6000 loads 
more ; and besides this there were 1800 loads of sup- 
plies for the Congo Company. Meanwhile there was 
a standing contract for the transport of 400 loads a 
month ; and now, to crown it all, came the announce- 
ment of the approach of Stanley's Expedition for the 
relief of Emin Pasha, which would necessitate the 
conveyance of 1200 loads more, and which demanded 
the utmost despatch, 



108 TRANSPORT FOR THE EXPEDITION. 

* ' At that time the entire direction of the transport 
service was in my hands. First appealing to the zeal 
of my European staff, I endeavoured to make the 
natives understand that it would be for their own 
interest that they should work for the Government, 
and in a month the State was informed that 7000 men 
had been engaged. During March I had the satisfac- 
tion of despatching over 5000 porters with their loads. 

"The business firms who managed transport on 
their own account suffered considerably from the re- 
cruiting thus effected on behalf of the State, as in 
addition to the 5000 porters there were at least 5000 
natives employed in the various stores. So that, 
during a single month, more than 8000 men were 
engaged for carrying on the caravan traffic between 
Matadi and Leopoldville. 

"All through the ensuing months recruiting went 
on briskly, and porters flocked in, with the result that 
by the end of October nearly every one of the loads 
had been forwarded from Matadi. I am thus in the 
position to testify that within an interval of eight 
months more than 30,000 loads were transported, 
and, reckoning the porters who undertook the work as 
far as Lukungu, not less than 60,000 men were em- 
ployed. " 

Nor again could any one better attest the remark- 
able progress that had been made in the facility of 
securing porters than Messrs. Ingham and Eose 
Troup, who were sent direct from Liverpool to pro- 
vide for the transport of Stanley's baggage. The 
state of things had become altogether different since 
the time when they were first in the service of the 
Congo Association. They had now no difficulty in 
finding 1500 men to carry out the required task. Mr. 
Ingham took charge of the transport between Matadi 
and Manyanga, Mr. Troup undertaking the arrange- 
ments between Manyanga and Leopoldville. Both of 
them accomplished their mission with complete suc- 
cess. On the way to the Pool one gang of porters 
met other gangs returning to Matadi to bring up the 
baggage that had been left behind ; but everything 
was well ordered, and in a month all was safely 
deposited at Leopoldville. 

On the 8th of April, at 11 a.m., the first to arrive at 



THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS. 109 

Lukungu was Tippoo Tib, with his troop. He made 
himself known to Lieutenant Franqui, who invited 
him to his verandah and offered him coffee. Tippoo 
Tib mentioned Boma, saying that it had appeared to 
him to be a place of some importance, and regretting 
that lack of time had prevented him from landing to 
inspect it. He likewise spoke highly of the caravan 
route beyond Banza-Manteka, and pronounced it well 
adapted for the transport of ivory. He then exhib- 
ited the contract that had been signed by himself and 
Stanley at Zanzibar, and had been deposited in a box 
containing various documents and photographs of Van 
Gele, Wissmann, Wester, Gleerup, and others. 

Stanley, with the main contingent of the party, ar- 
rived about two hours later, and mounted on their fine 
white donkeys, all the Europeans made their entry. 
Out of the flock of fifteen merino sheep which had 
been brought from the Cape only one was missing, 
which had yielded to fatigue on the previous day. 
As chief of the expedition, Stanley, for himself and 
his staff, accepted an invitation to dine at the station, 
where he spoke in high spirits, and declared that he 
was full of confidence in the ultimate success of his 
enterprise. 

Next morning the whole force mustered for an in- 
spection of their arms and equipment. There were 
four companies, each numbering about 200 men. The 
Zanzibar is were under the charge of Messrs. Nelson, 
Stairs, and Rose Troup, the Soudanese and Somalis 
being assigned to the control of Major Barttelot. The 
companies were again subdivided into three groups, 
each under the supervision of a nyampara, and pro- 
vided with a red banner. 

On a square of about one hundred yards Stanley 
had the entire force drawn out in double file, and pro- 
ceeded with the utmost care to investigate every de- 
tail, making the inspection with a calmness that be- 
tokened the presence of a competent, conscientious, 
and far-seeing leader. 

In the evening the whole camp was en fete. All 
the Europeans, those attached to the station as well 
as those belonging to the expedition, joined in the 
merriment, Stanley himself at first leading off one of 
the national dances of the Zanzibaris, and afterwards 



110 ARRIVAL AT STANLEY POOL. 

beating time for their movements. The enthusiasm 
was great, and Stanley was borne along in a frenzy 
of delight. 

Trifling as it may seem, this is an instance of the 
adroitness with which Stanley attracts to himself the 
devotion of his men. Those who speak of him as un- 
popular with his followers must speak without war- 
rant : he is strict, but lie is kind ; and, what is more, 
while he knows how to make the negroes submissive 
to his authority, he succeeds in securing their attach- 
ment to himself. 

When, at 10.30 a.m. on the following morning, the 
expedition, in good order, made a start, it was only 
requisite to leave seven men behind as invalids. Of 
these one died, two returned to Matadi, the remaining 
four being able to rejoin the force before reaching 
Leopold vi lie. Two months afterwards, several Euro- 
pean newspapers, professing to have trustworthy in- 
formation, actually announced that the expedition had 
been decimated by famine and that its line of march 
was strewn with bodies of the dead ! 

Two whole days were occupied in the passage of the 
river Inkissi ; the whale-boat was launched, and had 
to go backward and forward, from bank to bank, no 
less than eighty times. At the village of Nsello, near 
the point of confluence, the river is 160 yards wide, 
and enclosed by wooded cliffs varying from 50 to 100 
yards in height. A few miles higher up it is much 
broken by rapids, but further on, beyond the village 
of Kilemfi, its course is perfectly free, and runs through 
plains pleasing in aspect and populous with agricul- 
tural communities. The country on the right bank is 
occupied by the Wambundu, a tribe mainly engaged 
in the cultivation of the soil, and dependent on the 
Matoko of Wazanzi, whose authority extends from 
the Inkissi to the Pool. It is through this region that 
the projected railway would pass. 

When, on the 27th of April, the expedition crossed 
the wooded rock of Yombi, it was with no small feel- 
ing of relief that the announcement was hailed that 
Stanley Pool could be distinguished in the distance, its 
placid waters glistening between the trees, 



STANLEY POOL. Ill 



CHAPTER X. 

STANLEY POOL. 

Stanley Pool : history and description — River network of the Upper Congo 
— Mangale and Mense — European settlements — Leopoklville — Arrival of 
the relief-expedition — Means of transport — The Stanley and the mission- 
boats — Contention with the American Baptist Mission — Letter from 
Stanley to London Committee — Intervention of Commissary at Leopold- 
ville — Transport assured — " Better than could be expected " — Deficiency 
of food and reported famine — Vanguard despatched under Major Barttelot 
— Embarkation atluchassa — On the way to the Aruwirni. 

A glance at the map at once makes it evident that 
the Congo, before making its way to the wild ravines 
of the falls, opens out into a large expanse of about 
nine square miles, approaching to the circular in form, 
on which Stanley has bestowed his own name, desig- 
nating it " Stanley Pool." 

In all the narratives of the Congo exploration no 
name is of more frequent occurrence than that of this 
important lake ; no place has been more repeatedly 
the subject of dispute, as none can have a greater 
political significance, whilst nowhere has the progress 
of European occupation been more rapid. Stanley 
Pool, in fact, is the common port of all the navigable 
highways above it ; it is the terminus of what is one of 
the finest network of rivers in the world, offering for 
the development of steam navigation a course which 
in various directions has been surveyed for over 8000 
miles. 

Hence steamers can have access to not a few of the 
most fertile and populous regions of Central Africa. 
To Stanley Falls and the Aruwirni the route lies along 
the Congo itself; by the Kasai and Sankullu the way 
is open to the territory of the Bashilange and the 
Baluba ; by the Chuapa to the heart of the Balolo 
country ; by the Lomami to the confines of Nyangwe 
and Urua ; and by the Mobangi- Welle to the land of 
the Niam-niam. A survey is about to be made of the 
Bounga, through French Congo, and there is little 
doubt that it will be proved to lead to the foot of the 



112 STANLEY POOL. 

high plateau of the Adamawa, of the fertility of which 
Bart and Flegel have said so much. 

It was on the 12th of March 1877 that Stanley, 
while on his way from Nyangwe, discovered the Pool. 
Four years later, when he was in command of the first 
expedition sent out by the Society for the Investiga- 
tion of the Upper Congo, he returned thither accompa- 
nied by Captain Braconnier and Lieut. Valcke, and 
finding the right-hand bank occupied by a French 
station that had been established some months pre- 
viously by M. de Brazza, he crossed over to the 
southern side and founded Leopoldville. 

The route now lay open. Missionaries and mer- 
chants have not been slack in keeping pace with the 
explorers, and this they have accomplished with such 
effect that in a district where twelve }^ears ago the 
white man was unknown, there are now eight Euro- 
pean settlements ; while the waters of the river which 
had hitherto borne but the rude craft of the natives 
are now navigated by no less than nineteen steamers, 
seven belonging to the Free State, three to the French 
colony, two to missionaries, and seven to various mer- 
cantile firms. 

"There are few more charming sights, " Captain 
Thys has written, " than that enjoyed after a tedious 
and toilsome march of seventeen days through the re- 
gion of the Falls, when on attaining the height of 
Leopoldville the wide panorama mirrored in Stanley 
Pool bursts upon the view. The lake lies expanded as 
an inland sea, and is enclosed by wooded hills of 
which the outline becomes indistinct in the blue per- 
spective. First, turning to the far extremity of the 
widespread water, the eye rests upon the island of 
Bamu, looking like an elongation of the Kalina point ; 
the landscape beyond is bounded by the heights on 
the French shore, which are clothed with verdure, and 
which are in close proximity to some rugged white 
rocks to which Stanley, on account of some resem- 
blance which he traced, gave the name of 'Dover 
Cliffs.' On the north shore, the French settlement 
of Brazzaville comes clearly in vieAv, as well as the 
stores of the firm of Daumas, Beraud & Co. at Mfua. 
The opposite bank is lower but equally wooded, and 
nestling, among surrounding plantations can be de- 



STANLEY POOL. 113 

scried the houses of Kinchassa, the Kintamo village, 
whose chief, Ngaliema, plays so important a part in 
the story of the foundation of the Free State. Near- 
est of all, close at our feet, are the buildings of Leo- 
poldville." 

Away to the south-east, between twenty and thirty 
miles, there stands a mountainous elevation of so 
striking a form that it cannot fail to arrest the at- 
tention of the traveller. It is the highest point of 
the semicircle of hills forming the southern enclosure 
of the Pool, and has been named " Mense Peak," in 
compliment to one of the resident doctors in Leopold- 
ville. The surrounding district of Manquele, from a 
geological point of view, is exceptionally curious. It 
is a succession of white eminences of the most rugged 
character — inaccessible precipices, Pyrenean circles, 
needle-like projections, fantastic monoliths all com- 
bine to make so wonderful a scene that the Sweedish 
traveller, Von Schwerin, who was the first to investi- 
gate it, has predicted it will ultimately become what 
Yellowstone Park is to the Rocky Mountains — an 
object of excursion for tourists in search of the pict- 
uresque. 

All around the Pool the country is very fertile, 
slightly undulated, and clothed with savannahs inter- 
sected by belts of forest. Except towards the in- 
terior, where the aggregation is more considerable, 
it is not populous. The native residents are very 
much mixed. The French shore is occupied by the 
Bateke, with an admixture of the Babwendi ; whilst 
on the Free State side the Wabundu, who are the true 
owners of the soil, are amalgamated with the Bateke 
who have emigrated downwards. The former rec- 
ognise the supremacy of the Makoko of Mbe, the 
Wabundu acknowledging the rule of the Makoko of 
Wazanzi. 

There are four separate establishments of Europe- 
ans on Stanley Pool. Of these, the first is at Brazza- 
ville, being the French settlement at the lower outlet, 
the residence of the officer in charge, and the depository 
of the Danmas firm. The second station is at Leopold- 
ville, on the opposite shore, comprising the Free State 
settlement, and being the headquarters of the Com- 
missioner of the district. Here also is the centre of 



1 1 1 LEOPOLD VILLE. 

the American Baptist Missionary Union. The third 
station is at Kinchassa, some little distance from 
Leopoldville. For a while it was a Free State station, 
but is now occupied by the English Baptist Mission, 
under the direction of the well-known explorer, the 
Rev. George Grenfell. It is likewise used by a Rot- 
terdam association as a Dutch factory, and there is 
likewise an agency of the Belgian Society for Trade 
in the Upper Congo. The other settlement is that of 
Kimpoko, on the southern shore, at the entrance of 
the Pool, and has been appropriated by the American 
Mission in charge of Bishop Taylor. 

Of all these, Leopoldville is considerably the most 
important. On the slope of a hill a kind of terrace 
has been formed, where, amidst bananas, mangoes, 
papaws, palms, and other fruiting trees, stand two 
lines of dwelling-houses, with their accessory stores 
and other erections. The hillsides and the valleys 
have all been put under cultivation — fine plantations 
of manioc, maize, rice, haricots, sweet potatoes, cof- 
fee, and cocoa covering an area of somewhere about 
seventy acres. As to vegetables, no European gar- 
den could make a much finer or more varied display — 
peas, cabbages, lettuces, onions, leeks, radishes, car- 
rots all flourish. A little way apart are the enclosures 
for goats and for donkeys, shelters for larger cattle 
being in course of construction. Beyond these are 
clusters of huts of all shapes and dimensions, the 
homes of the natives and the barracks of the Haoussa 
and Bangala soldiers ; whilst, finally, down by the 
water's side, there are the carpenters', blacksmiths', 
and engineers' work-sheds, in which steamers are built 
and repaired with a bustle and activity that would not 
discredit any European dockyard. 

Regularly every morning as the day dawns, the bell 
sounds and the negro trumpeter blows his matutinal 
reveille. The whole settlement awakes, and both ter- 
races and huts are at once full of animation : groups 
of labourers hasten to the plantations ; the goods in 
the storehouses, delivered the day before, are un- 
packed ; at the forges the sturdy negroes, half na- 
ked, wield their ponderous hammers ; meanwhile, at 
the military quarters, the cannibal Bangala are being 



STANLEY POOL. 115 

drilled by European officers, and trained in the use of 
breechloaders. 

It only bides the time for the railway to be opened 
with Stanley Pool for its terminus, and a brilliant 
future must be before the land : the arrival of the 
first locomotive will be greeted with unbounded en- 
thusiasm. Not the least occasion is there to fear 
that the natives, like the Chinese some years ago, will 
proceed to throw rails and engine into the water ; the 
period of their initiation into the arts of civilisation 
has hitherto been brief, but they have already out- 
lived the fabulous age of the dragon with the rabbit's 
eyes. 

It was about noon on the 21st of April 1887 when 
Lieutenant Liebriechts of the Belgian Artilleiy, so 
recently arrived from Europe that he had only taken 
the command of the settlement on the preceding day, 
was made aware that there was an unusual commotion 
at no great distance along the caravan road. He 
hastened out and at once saw the immense throng, 
bearing their flags, and halting in the rear of the 
buildings of the American Mission. They were de- 
positing their loads and preparing to camp out. The 
Commissioner without delay went to salute Stanley, 
under whom he had previously served as Controller of 
the station at Bolobo. He found the entire expedi- 
tion in complete order and under good discipline, just 
commencing to clear the ground for the erection of 
their huts. Standing with the most undisturbed cool- 
ness, and with an air that might almost be said to 
betoken indifference, Stanley was superintending the 
proceedings ; and to the eye of an ordinary observer 
it might seem as if he had never been away from 
Leopoldville, but was simply going on with the dai- 
ly avocations that were engaging him while he was 
founding the settlement four years before. 

His immediate inquiry was about the means of 
transport. Lower down the river he had been told 
that the Stanley was in dock and was undergoing re- 
pairs that it would take a month to complete. This 
was disquieting, because beyond all others the Stanley 
was the boat upon which he relied for the conveyance 
of his men. His anxiety on this point was soon 
relieved, when Lieutenant Liebriechts pointed out Ehe 



116 STANLEY AND THE MISSIONARIES. 

ship lying at anchor in the harbour ready for prompt 
service. Alongside were the En Avant and the large 
whale-boat, both at his disposal. Thus far, then, as 
regarded the vessels that had been promised by the 
State, all was satisfactory ; and just as it was at Ba- 
nana, the explorer's good star was in the ascendant. 

Besides these, anchored in the Pool, were two mis- 
sion steamers, the Peace and the Henry Heed; and it 
was taken for granted that the permission of their 
owners would be at once obtained for the use of them 
for a few weeks. The application being made to the 
Baptist Mission at Kinchassa was immediately granted, 
and the Peace was handed over for Stanley's use. On 
the other hand, when the request was made to Mr. 
Billington, of the American Baptist Mission, for the 
loan of the Henry Reed, it was met with a point-blank 
refusal. 

Not used to be thwarted in the uncivilised regions 
through which he had passed in carrying out his enter- 
prises, and only accustomed to give the character of 
the means a secondary consideration, the only reply 
that Stanley had to give to the denial was to send an 
officer with some soldiers to take possession of the 
boat. No doubt it was a high-handed proceeding. 
Stanley seemed to ignore the fact that the Pool dis- 
trict had been brought under legally constituted author- 
ity, and had to be shown that such violent measures 
could not be tolerated. A warning letter from the 
representative of the Free State convinced him of this, 
and he ordered his men to withdraw. 

The Commandant of Leopoldville, however, was so 
thoroughly impressed with the necessity of despatch- 
ing this body of 750 men forward on their way, if the 
maintenance of general peace were to be preserved, 
that he himself entered into negotiation with Mr. Bil- 
lington, with the result that the steamer should be 
hired by the State to be entrusted by them to Stanley, 
who made himself responsible for all risk. 

All the details of this incident are given in a letter 
sent by Stanley to his Committee, and published in 
the Times, 



stanley pool. 117 

" Camp near leopoldville, Stanley Pool, 
April 26, 1887. 

" In 1881 I relieved two missionaries named Clarke 
and Lanceley. They had suffered a misfortune, a fire 
had consumed all their effects. They sent me an ap- 
peal for provisions. I provided them with a fair al- 
lowance from our own stores. They belonged to the 
Livingstone Inland Mission. 

" In 1883 a missionary named Sims applied for a 
site at Stanley Pool to establish a mission of the Liv- 
ingstone Inland Mission. His colleagues had vainly 
striven without aid from me to obtain permission from 
the natives. I gave an order to the chief of Leopold- 
ville to locate Dr. Sims on a site in the neighbourhood 
of the station, so that, times being unsettled then, the 
mission could be under our immediate protection. In 
1884 I extended the grounds of this mission, and also 
gave it a site for a branch mission at the Equator, 
subject, of course, to confirmation at Brussels. 

" By a curious event — on arriving at Stanley Pool 
this time — I found myself in a position of abject sup- 
pliant for favour. His Majesty the Sovereign of this 
Congo State had invited me to take the Congo River 
route to relieve Emin Pasha at Wadelai. Provided 
the steamers and boats were at Stanley Pool in time, 
without doubt this route was by far the cheapest and 
best, even though food was not over abundant. I 
therefore accepted the invitation and came here. But 
I had not anticipated this distressful scarcity of food, 
nor the absence of steamers and boats. 

" To every one at Stanley Pool it was clear that a 
disaster would be the consequence of this irruption of 
a large caravan upon a scene so unpromising as this 
foodless district. The only remedy for it was imme- 
diate departure up river. Long before arrival, I had 
sent letters of appeal to the English Baptist Mission, 
owners of the steamer Peace, and to the Livingstone 
Inland Mission ; which is now American, and owners 
of the steamer Henry Reed, for aid to transport the 
expedition to Bolobo immediately upon arrival at Stan- 
ley Pool. Reports confirmatory of the state of famine 
in that district were daily reaching me, and immediate 



118 A CONTENTION. 

departure was oar only means of saving life and pre- 
venting a gross scandal. 

" A few days later I received a letter from a Mr. 
Billington, in charge of the Henry Reed, saying he 
could not lend the steamer for such purpose as he 
wanted to go down river — i.e., overland toethe Lower 
Congo — ' for some purpose, and next month the Liv- 
ingstone Inland Mission expected some missionaries, 
and in the interval the steamer Henry Meed was to be 
drawn up on the slip to be repainted.' 

44 You will observe, as I did, that there was no 
question of urgency ; the steamer was to lie idle on 
the slip for repainting while Mr. Billington should go 
down river. . . . 

"Meantime the starving people would be tempted 
to force from every native or white the food which 
they could not obtain by purchase ; and no one knows 
to what extent disorder would spread. If I did my 
duty I should have had to repress it sternly. Still, 
whether my people or the natives would suffer most, 
it is clear that the condition of things would be 
deplorable. 

"From the English Baptist Mission I received a 
letter from its chief stating that unless orders to the 
contrary would arrive from home that he would lend 
me the steamer and be happy to help me. 

"Arriving at the Pool, and seeing more fully the 
extent of district suffering from scarcity of food, 
I sent Major Barttelot and Mr. Mounteney Jephson 
to represent more fully our desperate position to the 
Livingstone Inland Mission. They saw Messrs. Bil- 
lington and Sims. They tell me they urged the mis- 
sionaries by all the means within their power for over 
an hour to reconsider their refusal, and to assist us. 
They were said to have declined. Mr. Billington 
argued that he had consulted the Bible and found 
therein a command not to assist us. . . . 

" I consulted the Governor of Stanley Pool district 
Mons. Liebriechts, and represented to him that a 
great scandal was inevitable unless means were de- 
vised to extricate us from the difficulty. I told him I 
could not be a disinterested witness to the sufferings 
which starvation would bring with it ; that therefore 
p, formal requisition should be made by him on th§ 



STANLEY POOL. 119 

missions for the use of their steamers for a short term 
of, say, forty days ; that the Henry Reed was evi- 
dently, according to Mr. Billington's letter, to lie idle 
for a period over two months ; that this period could 
be utilised by us in saving hundreds of lives ; that 
their objections were frivolous. . . . M. Liebriechts 
admitted that the position was desperate and extreme ; 
that the State was also in a painful uncertainty as to 
whether provisions could be procured for its people 
each day. 

"The next morning Major Barttelot and Mr. Moun- 
teney Jephson were sent over again to the Livingstone 
Inland Mission to try a third appeal with Mr. Billing- 
ton, who only replied that he had ; prayerfully wres- 
tled even unto the third watch ' against the necessity 
there was of refusing the Henry Reed. He was con- 
firmed in his opinion that he was ' acting wisely and 
well.' Meantime it was reported to me that Mr. Bil- 
lington had furtively abstracted the valves and pis- 
tons of the engines, for the purpose of hiding them. 
I therefore hesitated no longer, but sent a guard of 
Soudanese down to the steamer and another guard 
with Major Barttelot to demand the immediate sur- 
render of the steamer and her belongings. Major 
Barttelot kept his guard without the domain of the 
mission and walked in alone with the letter. 

"The Commissaire of the State, seeing matters be- 
coming critical, ordered a guard to relieve the Soudan- 
ese at the steamer, and went in person to the mission- 
aries to insist that the steamer should be surrendered 
to the State. 

" Our guard was withdrawn upon an assurance 
being given that no article should be withdrawn or 
hidden. 

"For two days the matter continued in the hands 
of M. Liebriechts, who at last signed a charter in due 
form by which the mission permits the hire of the 
steamer Henry Reed to us for the sum of £100 ster- 
ling per month, which is at the rate of 30 per cent, 
per annum of her estimated value. 

" But what ungrateful people some of these mission- 
aries are ! Faith they may have in super-abundance 
— in hope they no doubt live cheerfully ; but of char- 
ity I do not find the slightest trace. However, our 



120 A SHORT SUPPLY OP FOOD. 

matter is ended, and our anxiety has abated some- 
what. . . . 

"Henry M. Stanley." 

Lieutenant Liebriechts by his tact and firm though 
impartial conduct had succeeded to the satisfaction of 
all parties in avoiding a conflict, thus relieving the 
station from a position that was serious and might be- 
come dangerous. Without recourse to force or com- 
pulsion he had insured the prosecution of the rapid 
advance of the expedition. 

This testimony is confirmed by Stanley himself in a 
letter which he sent to Lieutenant Liebriechts very 
shortly after the start from Leopoldville. " Every- 
thing," he writes, " is going on infinitely better than 
could be expected, for which we owe you much grati- 
tude." 

In fact, success so far was complete. The entire 
flotilla at the Pool was at Stanley's disposal. In addi- 
tion to the Stanley and the Government whale-boats 
(which had been promised him in Brussels) , the two 
mission steamers and the large launch of the English 
Baptists, hethad the use of the hull of the En Avant, 
of which the engines w r ere temporarily out of repair. 
Besides these, the men in the yard at Kinchassa were 
working hard at the repairs of the Florida, a steamer 
which had been lent for the occasion by the Sanford 
Exploring Expedition. They completed their task by 
April 29th, two days before the start. Thus, includ- 
ing the whale-boat, which belonged to the expedition 
itself, there was an aggregate of eight vessels, of 
which three were steamers. 

All through this period of negotiation about the 
boats, there had been the necessity of providing food 
for the 750 men whose sojourn at the Pool was tlms 
prolonged. This was no easy matter, and the days 
did not pass without some suffering of privation. 

Some mention has been made, in connection with 
this occasion, of dearth and famine; but the famine 
was not the result of drought or of bad harvests — it 
was simply the result of the difficulty of getting sup- 
plies from a thinly-populated district for so large a 
force that had arrived without having any reserve of 
provisions of its own. 



STANLEY POOL. 121 

While the population of the European settlements 
at the Pool was limited the adjacent country could 
meet its demands ; but after the resident white men 
exceeded the number of fifty, and their negro contin- 
gent had increased in proportion, the resources of the 
place failed to keep pace with the augmentation. For 
some years past the settlers at the Pool had been con- 
suming all the goats, poultry, and eggs produced in 
the neighbourhood, and no effort had been made either 
by the improvident negro or by the inactive European 
to guard against any sudden emergency. According- 
ly when there was the unexpected arrival of between 
700 and 800 men in a locality where there is no regu- 
lar communication with the outlying districts, some 
idea may be formed of the anxiety that was felt as to 
the finding provisions for such a multitude during the 
ten days that the expedition was compelled to tarry 
at Leopold ville and Kinchassa. 

On the 25th of April the Stanley was declared to be 
ready. Under the command of Major Barttelot and 
Dr. Parke, 153 men were embarked and sent in ad- 
vance towards Msuata, a place between the Pool and 
the confluence of the Masai, where it was reported 
that there was plenty of food. Detachments of hip- 
popotamus-hunters were sent out to scour the coun- 
try, and were fairly successful in getting a supply 
of meat. But as for chicuangue (the manioc-bread, 
which is ordinarily brought in by the natives from the 
neighbouring villages) , for some days there was abso- 
lutely none to be had. Just as in the region of the 
Falls, the natives here at the Pool had taken alarm at 
the approach of a prodigious armed force in strange 
costume, and had lied in consternation. The flight 
■ was so general, and the consequent difficulty of secur- 
ing provisions was so aggravated, that Lieutenant 
Liebriechts considered it prudent to send off a detach- 
ment of about fifteen soldiers, under Lieutenant von 
Reichslin, his second in command, to explain the true 
state of things to the chiefs, and to assure them that 
they had no cause for alarm. 

Nothing, however, quite prevailed to pacify the na- 
tive mind. The people very gradually, and witli a 
cautious hesitation, made their way back, and it \vns 
not until the entire expedition had taken its departure 



122 DEPARTURE FROM STANLEY TOOL. 

that the country reassumed its ordinary quiet, and 
that the accustomed supply of provisions became ade- 
quate to the demand. 

The means of transport being thus happily secured, 
the crisis was not of long duration ; but while it last- 
ed the panic was considerable, and Stanley had good 
reason for his subsequent message — "Everything is 
going on infinitely better than could be expected." 

In course of time the usual order of things was 
restored, and six weeks after the disappearance of the 
"Relief -hurricane," as the expedition was nicknamed 
on the Lower Congo, the manager of the French store 
at Brazzaville was able to send off to Matadi 100 
porters loaded with ivory without a single soldier to 
escort them. 

At length all was ready. Stanley had moved his 
encampment from Leopoldville to Kinchassa, where 
the whole flotilla was collected on the evening of April 
30th. 

Early next morning the embarkation commenced in 
front of the Dutch factory. The English mission 
steamer, the Peace, was selected as flag-ship of the 
chief of the expedition, and was made to take in tow 
both the large Government launch on one side, and 
the expedition whale-boat on the other, the three ves- 
sels collectively carrying 117 men and 100 loads. 
The Stanley was attached to the steamship Florida, 
both being placed under the command of Captain 
Schaegestrom of the Free State Navy, and together 
conveying 364 men, 500 loads, the nine donkeys, and 
a flock of goats. Lastly, there was the Henry Reed, 
which had in tow the hull of the En Avant and the 
English Mission whale-boat, and was under the orders 
of Captain Martini. This third contingent carried 131 
men and 100 loads, Tippoo Tib and his women-folk, 
to the number of fifteen, occupying the En Avant. 

By 6.30 a.m. the last load was embarked: the Eu- 
ropeans went on board : Stanley gave the signal ; the 
Henry Seed weighed anchor ; the Stanley followed ; 
the Peace brought up the rear ; and in a few minutes 
the whole flotilla was lost to view behind the islands. 

This was not the first expedition that the riverside 
population of the Upper Congo had seen passing be- 
tween its shores. The former one in 1883, composed 



ON THE UPPER CONGO. 123 

of the steamers the Royal, the En Avant, and the As- 
sociation Internationale, had borne the blue banner, 
spangled with gold, and had peacefully opened the 
way for European enterprise into the heart of Africa ; 
and now, four years later, along that same route that 
had been kept open by vast effort and large sacrifice, 
beneath the same banner and under the same com- 
mand another like expedition passes on, carrying help 
to two valiant champions in Africa's cause, who have 
been lost to sight in the far distant district of the 
sources of the Nile. 



CHAPTER XI. 



ON THE UPPER CONGO. 



Between Stanley Pool and Stanley Falls — Rogion of the islands — Accidents 
to the Peace and to the Stanley — Stay at B >1 )bo — Id the land of pleDty — 
With the Ban^ala — Yesterday and to-dav — Reception — The advance-guard 
— On the Aruwimi — Arrival at the Yi.mbuy . Rapids. 

Altogether unique is the navigable highway which 
the Congo forms between Stanley Pool and Stanley 
Falls. The distance between these two points is over 
1000 miles, or something less than the united length 
of the Rhine and the Rhone. Its width is nowhere 
less than 400 yards, and in many parts extends to 
several miles ; between the points of confluence of the 
Mongalla and the Itumbiri it is over twenty miles, 
about the width of the Straits of Dover, and unap- 
proached in magnitude by any other water-course in 
the world. 

From the district of Bolobo, until it has passed the 
point of confluence with the Aruwimi, its course is 
studded with innumerable islands, and a navigator has 
not unfrequently the simultaneous choice of ten or 
more different channels, each in itself a river some 
hundreds of yards in breadth, and separated by islands 
fciiat \ary from three miles to thirty miles in length. 
From the entire absence of any external indications, 
these channels at present require very watchful navi- 
gation, and in some parts present a certain amount of 
danger , but there can be little doubt that wh< n the 



124 ON THE UPPER COtfGO. 

forthcoming survey has been completed, at least one 
channel will be proved to exist that is perfectly adapted 
for rapid navigation, and available to steamers of 
considerable size. 

All the islands appear heavily clothed with vege- 
tation which is reflected in the waters around ; palm- 
trees of five or six species, tamarisks, cotton-trees, 
acacias, calamus, cola-trees, and gigantic baobabs 
grow in profusion ; and the ubiquitous caoutchouc 
creeper, with its white blossoms, of which the natives 
have not yet learnt the value, casts its interlacing 
growth over the massy forest, as if to throw an impen- 
etrable barrier in the way of any curious intruder, 

Any one navigating these narrow channels, with 
their bordering of flowers and verdure, might almost 
imagine himself on the ornamental waters of some 
familiar and cultivated domain. The scene is quite 
restful to the eye, after the imposing if somewhat 
monotonous panorama which the river presents when 
the view stretches afar across the woods and savan- 
nahs on its shores. 

The banks beyond Chumbiri are for the most part 
low, being only broken by a few hills at Upoto. Every- 
where the soil seems wonderfully fertile, and is clothed 
with a dense vegetation which is frequently enlivened 
by the more brilliant green of the banana plantations 
that surround the villages, and by the aid of a tele- 
scope may often be made out miles away over the 
plains beyond the swampy shores of the river. 

The population is very irregularly distributed, some 
large tracts being apparently quite deserted, whilst in 
others an almost uninterrupted line of villages extends 
away for miles. Generally friendly, the people not 
unfrequently are quite hospitable. They come in con- 
siderable numbers in their canoes to greet a passing 
boat, signalling to travellers that they should stop and 
trade with them, and always showing themselves eager 
for business transactions. 

Two mishaps have to be recorded as occurring to 
the expe lition on the Upper Congo ; the Peace lost 
her tiller, and the Stanley went aground between 
Chumbiri and Bolobo. Stanley describes the two ac- 
cidents in a letter sent to his Committee from the 
[Bangala station, and dated May 31st : — 



ON THE UPPER CONGO. 125 

u On leaving Kinchassa, the Henry Reed and the 
Stanley filed off and commenced their first day's pas- 
sage ; bnt the Peace, when it had hardly proceeded 
two miles, was stopped by an accident. Her tiller 
broke, so that she wonld not answer her helm. Her 
captain immediately lowered two anchors ; a violent 
shock, however, sent the boat into a rapid current, 
and we were obliged to cut the chains in order to 
rescue ourselves from peril. We had to go back to 
Kinchassa, whence the captain and engineer had to go 
six miles lower down to Leopoldville to have the 
damaged tiller repaired, so that an entire day was 
lost. 

"We resumed our voyage next morning, and for 
four days maintained a moderate speed, the Stanley 
and Henry Reed always making good heading, the 
Peace still continuing in the rear. 

"Between Kinchassa and Msuata, a distance of 
eighty-eight miles, we spent two days longer than is 
usually enough, and when we had passed Msuata we 
made a still more indifferent progress. The speed of 
the Peace continued to slacken ; after a while it was a 
hard matter for her to contend with the current, until 
at length she was completely overpowered and began 
to be driven backward. We cast anchor at once, and 
for a second time found ourselves in a dilemma. 

"Forthwith we proceeded to land the passengers 
from the disabled vessel, and sent on a small boat to 
Bolobo to procure some assistance. Next clajr the 
unfortunate craft had to be ignominiously towed by 
the Henry Reed to the entrance of the harbour of 
Bolobo. 

" But as though it was not vexatious enough for us 
that we should be thus retarded by the Peace, the 
Stanley must next get into trouble. 

" Imagine us, as we were following on in the Henry 
Reed, coining up to discover the Stanley, lying in 
broad daylight, without steam, on the shore. The 
great boat had been venturing too recklessly among 
the shoals, and here was the result — the stern had 
been stove in. Happily our alarm was somewhat ex- 
aggerated ; the injury was not so serious but that the 
engineers found they could patch on some plates of 
metal and make the ship fit for navigation ; and all 



126 RETARDED PROGRESS. 

hands being set to work on the task, it was ready to 
proceed in a couple of clays." 

Bolobo, where the expedition was thus delayed, is 
situated on the Free State shore, a little above the 
Kasai. It is the most populous centre in the territory 
of the Bayanzi, a rich and commercial nation, trading 
principally in ivory. It contains about 30,000 inhabi- 
tants. It has parallel lines of streets, and public 
squares, and the dwelling-houses are very comfortable, 
their fields of manioc, maize, and sweet potatoes ex- 
tending inland as far as the eye can reach. They are 
a fine, high-spirited race of people. The Congo Asso- 
ciation formerly had a station here, which is now only 
occupied by the English Baptist Mission. 

For some days after arriving on May 8th, the expe- 
dition remained at Bolobo, so as to allow the Stanley 
to go back to the confluence of the Kasai and fetch up 
the detachment which, under Major Barttelot, had been 
making its way on foot from the Black River to the 
mouth of the Kwa. On the 14th anchors were weighed, 
and an entrance was made into the island-labyrinth of 
the Upper Congo. 

Beyond Bolobo no noteworthy incident occurred ; 
there was no loss of life nor damage to property ; the 
boats continued the voyage by day, being brought-to 
every night. 

The usual rule was that anchor should be cast about 
5 p.m., by which hour a distance varying from fifteen 
to thirty miles would have been accomplished. For 
two hours or more the men would be occupied in col- 
lecting wood for the engines during the following day ; 
during the evening the clang of the hatchets chopping 
up the firewood would be accompanied by the shrill 
choruses of the men as they did their work ; large fires • 
would be kindled ; in due time the cooks would have 
completed their preparations, and the evening meal 
would be served. 

No longer now was there any scarcity of provisions, 
such as had caused anxiety in the district of the Falls 
and at Stanley Pool. "Food is abundant, " wrote 
Stanley ; u the natives everywhere receive us so well, 
and bring us such abundance of victuals, that my peo- 
ple have already quite forgotten their privations. I 
reckon that every man must have gained from 10 lb. 



ON THE UPPER CONGO. 127 

to 20 lb. in weight between leaving Kinchassa and ar- 
riving at Bangala, and I am inclined to think that this 
sudden increase of burden must tell somewhat to the 
disadvantage of the speed of our boats." 

On the 18th the flotilla passed Lukolela, the sta- 
tion, of another Protestant Mission, and on the 23rd 
reached Equatorville, a Free State settlement, where 
Stanley was gratified at meeting a former associate, 
Captain Van Gele, who was on the point of ascending 
the Mobangi, to investigate its source. 

Having been successfully repaired at Bolobo, the 
Peace was now able to keep the lead, and on the 30th 
on emerging from the midst of the islands, the party 
on board sighted the extensive buildings of the station 
of the Bangala. 

Bangala is the appellation of one of the most notori- 
ous of the tribes of the Upper Congo. It occupies 
both banks of the river above its confluence with the 
Mobangi. They are a splendid race of men, above 
the average in height, singularly adroit in the manip- 
ulation of their canoes, and held in terror by the neigh- 
bouring people for their courage in war. 

It Avas in making good his passage past the numer- 
ous Bangala villages on both banks of the river, that 
Stanley on his first descent of the Congo, in 1877, had 
to engage in the sanguinary strife which he describes 
in his u Through the Dark Continent." 

" Incessant beating of their drums," he says, " had 
roused the savages to the height of frenzy ; they mus- 
tered their canoes ; they loaded their guns ; they sharp- 
ened their knives and their lances ; and all simply 
because we were intruders, navigating their waters. 

" As w r e drifted onwards a number of the canoes 
approached us. I hailed the natives ; I received no 
repl} T . Immediately afterwards they fired into our 
boats. 

u The fight thus begun was carried on with equal 
vigour on both sides, and lasted so long that I was 
obliged to make a fresh distribution of ammunition. 
Each village seemed to send its contingent to aid the 
attack, and at three o'clock the number of canoes tak- 
ing part in the combat was sixty-three. It was not 
till half-past five that the assailants retired, 



128 THE BANGALA. 

" This was the fiercest of all the conflicts which we 
had to sustain on this terrible river." 

Twelve years have since elapsed, and in that inter- 
val the events that have transpired have completely 
modified the condition of the country, and the dispo- 
sition of its population towards strangers. A great 
settlement has risen in the midst of the Ban gala vil- 
lages ; the chiefs who in 1877 instigated the hostilities 
against Stanley have become the friends and proteges 
of the white man ; human sacrifices have been abol- 
ished ; steamers make regular visits to the stations ; 
order is maintained by armed force ; the natives read- 
ily take service under the State and have no reluctance 
to go down to Boma and Banana, 1500 miles away 
from their homes ; and the Congo army reckons in its 
numbers scarcely less than 700 Ban gal a soldiers. 

These highly satisfactory results have been brought 
about mainly by the intelligence and tact of the two Bel- 
gian officers who were the first to be placed in control 
of this remote station, Captains Coquillat and Vanker- 
koven, ably seconded by their subordinates Lieutenants 
Baert and Dhanis. 

Bangala is the finest of the stations which the State 
owns on the Upper Congo. Stanley failed to recog- 
nise it, not having been in the country since in Jan- 
uary 1884 he had held his palaver with the old chief 
Mata-Buyke. 

Marvellous were the changes for the better. The 
river now was alive with more than a hundred canoes, 
filled no longer with armed warriors, but with friendly 
people waving their hands in welcome ; upon the river 
bank a crowd was cordially cheering the arrival of the 
vessels, whilst a goodly throng was hurrying down to 
the wooden landing-place. Within the settlement, 
enclosed by its palisades and trenches, rose tier upon 
tier of buildings constructed of kiln-burnt bricks, and 
far beyond these extended large plantations. The 
garrison, which reckoned in its ranks some of the old 
assailants of 1877, was drawn up in well-disciplined 
order and presented arms, not lances nor old-fashioned 
muskets, but modern breechloading sniders. 

Stanley landed, followed by his officers, together 
with Tippoo Tib and his retinue. He was received 
TOder the verandah of the central building by all the 



ON THE UPPER CONGO. 129 

European staff, headed by Lieutenant Baert, who, in 
the absence of the chief Commissioner, Captain Van- 
kerkoven, did the honours of the occasion, and hos- 
pitably offered wine, as token of welcome. In ac- 
knowledging the courtesy Stanley spoke a few words 
to this effect : " On landing here to-day I cannot help 
recalling the very different reception that was accorded 
me ten years ago by the same natives who are now so 
confiding and enthusiastic. This prosperous station, 
these commodious erections, these well-cultivated 
fields, this orderly and well-drilled force, and all those 
signs of civilisation which have been so rapidly im- 
ported into the heart of a nation that was yesterday, 
as it were, unknown to the civilised world, make a 
deep impression upon me. I congratulate you on the 
great work that has been accomplished, and at the 
same time I thank you for the kind and hearty wel- 
come that you now give me. In the face of such 
achievements in the past, who can entertain any doubts 
about the future?" 

While he was speaking the artillery was thundering 
out a salute, greeting the advent of the former Chief 
Commissioner of the Congo Association. 

The expedition stayed three days at Ban gala. 

Meantime, the Henry Reed was sent on to convey 
Tippoo Tib to Stanley Falls, Major Barttelot and 
forty soldiers accompanying him as an escort. The 
ship was then to return, without delay, as far as the 
Aruwimi Rapids. It was on the 2nd of June when 
she was despatched ahead under full steam, and on 
the same day, the Stanley and the Peace, with the boats 
in tow, resumed their onward way. 

Apart from the inconvenience arising from heavy 
rains and smart squalls, the passage from Bangala to 
the Aruwimi was unmarked by any special incident. 
On the 16th the steamers quitted the waters of the 
great river for the diminished channel of its affluent. 
Two days later the rapids of Yambuya were in sight, 
and the anchors had to be lowered. Here navigation 
must cease. The voyage from Kinchassa had occu- 
pied six weeks ; this was about eight days more than 
the estimated time, a delay that was regarded as quite) 
Unimportant, 



130 THE CAMP AT YAMBUYA. 

So far everything bad gone prosperously, and 
answered to the expectation of the chief of the 
expedition. 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE CAMP AT YAMBUYA. 



The Amwimi — Formation of the camp — Stanley's plan— T\ie arrival of 
the Henry Reed — Tippoo Tib at Stanley Falls — Composition of the caravan 
— Forward ! 

The Aruwimi, on the right bank of the Congo, is 
one of its most important tributaries. In 1877 Stan- 
ley first discovered it as an affluent, and in 1883 made 
the ascent of its lower course as far as Yambuya, 
where he was stopped by the rapids. The river has 
since been frequently explored by the agents of the 
Congo State, who have recently established a large 
entrenched camp, protected by cannon, and garrisoned 
with 600 Haoussa and Bangala soldiers, under the 
command of twelve European officers. 

The course of the river is studded with numerous 
small islands, some of which are covered with low 
bushwood, others with trees of larger growth. There 
are also many sandbanks which, when the water is 
low, render navigation somewhat dangerous. The 
current is by no means strong, nor is the channel any- 
where very deep, and at Yambuya, where the river is 
over 400 yards wide, the natives ford it at low water. 
Both banks are picturesque and well- wooded, though 
not densely covered with forest like those of the 
Lower Congo, the Sankullu, and the Lomami. At in- 
tervals between the woods there are wide fertile plains, 
rising variably from 15 to 30 feet above the level of 
the water. At the beginning of the year, during the 
rainy season, the woods are adorned with masses of 
blossoms of exquisite hues, scarlet, pink, and snowy 
white. Bananas and palms are in great abundance. 

On the Lower Aruwimi, the shores are tenanted by 
the populous tribe of the Basoko, a fine strongly-built 
people, resembling the Wapoto lower down the Congo, 
and the Mwenja round Stanley Falls. Further up the 
riyer reside the Bateku, the Baburu, and other tribes, 



THE LOWER ARUWIMI. 131 

The building of the houses ou the Aruwimi is quite 
of a different style to what it is on the Upper Congo. 
The huts are all surmounted by conical roofs, which 
are from 4 to 5 yards high, and reach nearly down to 
the ground, and these are covered over with great 
prickly leaves which give to these primitive abodes a 
very singular character. 

When first the expedition was making preparations 
to disembark, the natives congregated on the banks, and 
appeared to be assuming a threatening attitude, as if 
disposed to prevent a landing being effected. Stanley 
sounded his steam- whistles, and the extraordinary noise 
so startled them that they took to their heels. By de- 
grees, however, they found their way back, and being 
enticed by a few presents, and by kindly words, soon 
became on friendly terms. 

The camp was pitched at the foot of the first rapids, 
on the slope of a steepish hill about twenty yards in 
height. It was enclosed by a palisade, and on the 
sides that were open to attack it was protected by a 
broad fosse, with bastions at the angles. Inside it 
was partitioned off into three divisions, the upper of 
these being occupied by the huts of the Europeans, 
not arranged in any symmetrical order ; the centre by 
the Zanzibaris and the police-guard ; the lowest set 
apart for the quarters of the Soudanese and for the 
powder-magazine. 

Whilst Lieutenant Stairs and Mr. Jameson were 
superintending the construction of the camp, Stanley 
was engaged in organising the scheme of his expe- 
dition. The main features of his plan were these : he 
would form an advance caravan, consisting of some 
300 or 400 porters, and of these, with the assistance 
of about four of his subordinates, he would himself 
take the command. With this caravan he would pro- 
ceed towards Lake Albert, mainly following the course 
of the Aruwimi, and using the river, wherever it should 
be practicable, for the transport of baggage and inva- 
lids. The point on the lake which he contemplated 
reaching was Kavalli, a small village on its southern 
extremity. 

Yambuya and Kavalli lie pretty nearly in the same 
latitude, and the distance between them wag over 3C0 
miles, which Stanley hoped, if no impediment arose, 



132 THE CAMP AT YAMBTJYA. 

that he should accomplish in about two mouths ; but 
of course he felt it quite questionable what difficulties 
he might have to contend with along a route of which 
he had not the slightest knowledge. 

Then, next, whilst this march was being made, the 
encampment would have to be left with the remainder 
of the baggage under the guard of 300 soldiers ; the 
Stanley and the Peace would have to go down to Stan- 
ley Pool to convey up Mr. Rose Troup and whatever 
had been left behind at Leopoldville, as well as to 
bring on Messrs. Bonney and Ward with 125 soldiers 
who were at Bolobo ; and finally, when Tippoo Tib's 
promised contingent of bearers should arive, the rear 
body should follow on, upon Stanley's track, which, so 
long as it traversed an unknown country, should be 
indicated by the blazing of trees and by the vestiges 
of the abandoned camps. 

On the afternoon of June 22nd, the Henry Reed, 
with Major Barttelot on board, arrived at Stanley 
Falls. It had already been there on the 17th with 
Tippoo Tib, who was received with every demonstra- 
tion of delight. On parting, Tippoo-Tib delivered to 
the Major several letters, one of which was addressed 
to the King of the Belgians, assuring his Majesty of 
his most devoted allegiance, and of his earnest desire 
for the maintenance of peace in the district that had 
bjen entrusted to his charge. 

This was in June 1887. Since that time various ac- 
cusations of treachery have been laid against Tippoo 
Tib, but the conduct of the Arab chief has been in 
every way honest and straightforward, entirely falsi- 
fying all evil report. 

The whole of the Upper Congo is now in the occu- 
pation of the agents of the Free State. The Gov- 
ernment steamers, as well as those in the owners]] ip 
of different missions and various mercantile firms, ply 
freely between the Pool and the Falls, and so active 
is trade, that at the close of 1889 nearly fifty tons of 
ivory purchased from the natives and Arab dealers 
were sold in the Antwerp market. 

Control of the camp at Yambuya, as well as the con- 
duct of the second caravan, was entoisted by Stanley 
to Major Barttelot, who would have the assistance of 
Messrs. Jameson, Bonney, Rose Troup, and Ward. 




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FIFTEEN MONTHS OF UNCERTAINTY. 133 

The officers who were to accompany Stanley himself 
were Lieutenant Stairs, Captain Nelson, Dr. Parke, 
and Mr. Mounteney Jephson. The caravan altogeth- 
er was 368 in number, and in addition to the sections 
of the whale-boat, and the large stock of provisions, 
it had to convey 300 loads of cartridges. A company 
of seventy-five soldiers, armed with Winchester rifles 
and hatchets, under the orders of Lieutenant Stairs, 
was told off, to go at the head of the column, and lay 
open a pathway through the woods. 

All preparations were complete by the 27th of June. 
Stanley had the troups drawn up in marching order 
and subjected to a strict review. Betimes next morn- 
ing the expedition left Yambuya and made its en- 
trance upon the unknown. AVho could tell what dif- 
ficulties were before it ? Who could anticipate what 
dangers were to be met ? Who could forecast what 
hostility, what sickness, what famine might have to 
be endured ? 

But these things mattered not. The grandeur of 
the undertaking kindled the energies of all alike ; con- 
fidence and hope were strong. Had the} T not, as a 
leader, the man who had saved Livingstone, the hero 
who had traversed Africa from Zanzibar to Banana, 
the renowned rock-breaker Boula Matari, the undaunt- 
ed explorer, the keenest of diplomatists, the very 
founder of the Congo State? 

Forward, then, forward ! Straight onward to the 
Nyanza ! 



CHAPTER XIII. 
j 

- FIFTEEN MONTHS OF UNCERTAINTY. 

i 

Despatch from missionary at Matadi — Despatch from Zanzibar — Fresh re- 
lief expeditions — Telegram from Mr. Ward — The White Pasha on the 
Bahr-d-Ghazal — Communication from Dr. Junker — TheMahdi's expedi- 
tion against Emin — Supposed death of Casati — Osman Digna to General 
Grenfell--Omar Saleh's report of the taking of Lado and the capture of 
Emin— The Stanley Expedition and the House of Commons— News fiom 
Stanley Falls— Safe ! 

On the 23rd of June 1887, five days before he left 
Yambuya, Stanley addressed a letter to Mr. William 
Mackinnon, which he concluded by saying: " As soon 



134 FIFTEEN MONTHS OF UNCERTAINTY. 

as we can get wood enough on board the Peace and 
Henry Reed to feed their furnaces for a few days, the 
steamers will be off, and our last chance of communi- 
cating with Europe for a few months will be gone." 

This letter arrived in Europe on the 20th of Sep- 
tember 1887, and until the 21st of December 1888, 
an interval of fifteen months, there was no authentic 
news of the expedition. False reports of all kinds 
were put in circulation ; never before had the story 
of African enterprise drawn forth such a profusion 
of hypothetical conclusions. At the very time when 
Stanley, with his advanced caravan, was making his 
way along the banks of the Aruwimi, the following 
telegram was sent to Europe : — 

"S. Thomas, July 21, 1887. 
" According to a report received from a missionary 
at Matacli, Stanley has been killed in an engagement 
with the natives, about procuring food." 

Almost while the press was commenting on this in- 
formation, the report of the Matadi missionary was 
supported by the announcement which found its way 
into publication, that Stanley's steamer had stranded 
on a sand-bank on the upper river, that it had been 
attacked by the natives, and that the leader, with all 
the members of the expedition, had been massacred. 

These tidings were reproduced in the newspapers of 
all parts of the world, so that by a considerable por- 
tion of the public Stanley was regarded as lost ; his 
enterprise, it was argued, was too vast for human 
power ; the terrible cannibals of the Aruwimi would 
never permit him to leave their territory alive ; the 
country through which he was essaying to pass pre- 
sented a series of swamps in which fever must be 
fatal ; or even at best, if he should succeed in over- 
coming the difficulties of the way, he would be sure 
to fall a victim to the treachery of Tippoo Tib, that 
astute enemy whom he had been beguiled into estab- 
lishing at the Falls, but who had long been looking 
for an opportunity to assassinate him ! 

On the 17th of August, another sensational para- 
graph appeared, emanating this time from the East 
Coast, and sent by M. Iiaffray, the French Consul at 



HOPES AND FEAKS. 135 

Zanzibar. It said that news had been brought from 
Nyangwe that Stanley, after having been betrayed by 
Tippoo Tib, had been attacked on the banks of the 
Aruwimi, and that he and his followers had all been 
murdered. That statement was a few clays later cor- 
roborated by the Figaro, which specified June 28th as 
the day of the dreadful deed. 

The report, thus become current, made the more 
profound impression because it seemed to come from 
an official source ; but on further inquiry nothing ap- 
peared to confirm it ; the French Consul had been 
misinformed by some traders who had come from the 
interior. Hope, therefore, again revived. 

But altogether, it must be owned, these rumours 
were disquieting ; the public confidence was shaken ; 
and it began to be realised that Stanley's position 
must be very critical, and that it was quite problemati- 
cal whether he would ever succeed in reaching Emm. 
Consequently discussion was started as to the propriety 
of organising a fresh relief expedition which should 
proceed from the East Coast, a route which many 
maintained would prove far easier and quicker than 
that which Stanley had elected to take. 

Meanwhile all messengers coming from the Congo 
to Europe had only the same uniform report to make : 
" No news of Stanley." 

The silence could not do otherwise than cause un- 
easiness. Public curiosity was aroused, and as Stan- 
ley himself supplied no information, it involuntarily 
sustained itself upon the sensational telegrams and 
reports, which although they were quite beside the 
mark, furnished some material for discussion. 

Ere long communications were received simultane- 
ously from Yambuya and from Wadelai, the former 
brought down to the coast by Mr. Ward, the latter 
furnished by a letter from Emm. Both were to the 
same invariable effect : " No news of Stanley." 

What could have happened? Where is he? What 
is he doing? Is he a prisoner? Is he dead? Some 
maintained that, like Hicks Pasha, he and all his 
people had been annihilated, and that nothing more 
would be heard of him ; some as confidently affirmed 
that he must be hemmed in by the natives of the 
Aruwimi, and be without food or ammunition. 



136 FIFTEEN MONTHS OF UNCERTAINTY. 

Neither at the headquarters of any of the geograph- 
ical societies, nor by the Einin Relief Committee, did 
these pessimist conjectures obtain any credence. 

Dr. Schweinfurth wrote : " There is no reason to be 
uneasy respecting Stanley's fate." 

Dr. Junker's verdict was: " The expedition is ex- 
posed to no risk on the part of the natives." 

Captain Wissmann's message was : " I am sure that 
the expedition is not lost." 

And Captain von Gele said : " Though perhaps re- 
duced in numbers by a long rough march, Stanley and 
his men are assuredly in being, and we shall soon 
hear of their exploits." 

But these high authorities did not avail to allay the 
general misgiving. People remained incredulous, and 
it began to be circulated by telegrams and otherwise that 
fresh expeditions were being organised for the relief 
of the distressed explorer. Of these expeditions, how- 
ever, nothing more was subsequently heard. 

No doubt the letters received in Europe from Mr. 
Ward gave a somewhat unsatisfactory account of the 
situation at Stanley Falls and at the Aruwimi camp, 
and the comments of the press became more and more 
gloomy. Mr. Ward stated that the sole news which 
Major Barttelot had received of the expedition was 
from some deserters, who reported that the caravan 
had been attacked by the natives, and that Mr. Stan- 
ley had been wounded by an arrow. Several news- 
papers asserted that a still more serious state of things 
was being concealed. 

At length, on June 17th, the Gaulois announced 
that there had been received at Brussels official intelli- 
gence of Stanley's death ; and next day the Journal 
des Debats confirmed the account of the disaster in an 
article to this effect :— 

"A Paris journal to-day announces that official 
news of Stanley's death has been received at Brussels. 
The truth of the report has been denied. Neverthe- 
less the letters which we have ourselves received from 
Zanzibar leave little room for hope, and we believe 
that we are warranted in giving credence to the news. 
As collateral evidence, it is said that the families of 
the porters who accompanied the expedition have now 
been wearing mourning for several weeks. It is cle- 



THE WHITE PASHA. 137 

clared that Tippoo Tib is responsible for the catastro- 
phe, as it is known that he was nurturing feelings of 
revenge against Stanley, and that he would take an 
opportunity of gratifying his enmity. Tippoo Tib is 
the real author of the disaster that has befallen the 
Emin Relief Expedition." 

On the same day the Brussels correspondent of the 
Berliner Tageblatt wrote to corroborate the statements 
made by the Parisian press, by giving details of the 
effect produced by the news upon the members of the 
Free State Government in Brussels. What he said 
was to the following purport : — " The Congo Govern- 
ment now acknowledges that even if Stanley be not 
dead, at any rate he must be in imminent danger. 
His mission has completely failed, and his caravan is 
hopelessly dispersed. For a month past the officials 
have been aware of the desperate condition of things, 
which probably has some connection with the recall of 
M. Janssen, the Governor-General. All is conster- 
nation here. Negotiations are going on between the 
English and Congo Governments as to the propriety 
of sending out a fresh expedition. It is to be feared, 
however, that help must arrive too late." 

Yet what was the fact ? All through this time the 
administrators of the Free State, however persistently 
they were interviewed by the Brussels reporters, ad- 
hered to the unchanging statement: " No news of 
Stanley." 

But now in the midst of these doubts and discrep- 
ancies, an announcement which appeared in the Times 
gave a new direction to the discussion. Attention 
was drawn to unexpected quarters. The announce- 
ment in question was in substance as follows : — 

Suakin, June 20th, 1888. 
"According to intelligence received by the military 
authorities from Berber and Khartoum, and confirmed 
by deserters from Osman Digna's camp, a White 
Pasha has appeared in the Bahr-el-Ghazal district, 
and is advancing victoriously. The Khalifa Abdul- 
lah, the Mahdi's successor, is said to be much alarmed. 
This White Pasha is probably Stanley." 

This strange and somewhat startling news was con- 



138 FIFTEEN MONTHS OF UNCERTAINTY. 

firmed in a degree by later despatches. From Suakin, 
on July 18th, it was reported: " Some fakirs who 
are on pilgrimage to Mecca arrived here yesterday, 
and have said this morning that in passing through 
Darfur they heard that a large company of strangers, 
with a White Pasha at their head, were in the marshes 
of the Bahr-el-Ghazal ; and further, that the popula- 
tion of Darfur had received them cordially, and was 
making preparation to join them in attacking the 
Mahdi." 

From Cairo, on July 23rd, it was heard that u a 
messenger from Omdurman reports that the Khalifa 
Abdullah has received news of the arrival of the White 
Pasha in the Bahr-el-Ghazal. Abdullah intends to 
march against him. The messenger adds that the 
White Pasha is Emin." 

Later on a telegram from Suakin, dated August 
17th, contained further explanation : u The reports of 
the appearance of a white chief on the Bahr-el-Ghazal 
are confirmed. The chief is designated by the na- 
tives Etlu-Digu ( King of Beards ) . His force is said 
to be considerable, and composed of half-naked men, 
probably Niam-niam or Denka. The man from whom 
I received the news avows its accuracy. The popula- 
tion of Khartoum is taken by surprise, and is in con- 
siderable alarm, being influenced by the belief that 
Etlu-Digu is no other than Stanley. The Mahdi is 
said to have despatched 5000 infantry and 200 cav- 
alry to Fashoda, by way of Kordofan." 

And again from Suakin on August 20th: — " Some 
pilgrims who have arrived from Sokoro by the way of 
the Bahr-el-Ghazal report the appearance of a large 
force of white men in the Bongo country. The pil- 
grims left Bongoland in February, after camping for 
four days with the white people, who were armed with 
Remington rifles." 

Thus it came to pass that all kinds of conjectures 
were rife about this White Pasha who, after establish- 
ing himself in the Bahr-el-Ghazal and making alli- 
ance with the people of Darfur, was now about mak- 
ing an offensive movement against the Arabs. Who 
was this Pasha ? AYhence came this bold adventurer 



THE MAHDl's PREPARATIONS. 139 

into Lupton Bey's former province ? Was it Stan- 
ley ? Was it Emm ?* 

In order to throw some light upon the matter which 
had thus kept the Suakin telegraph in activity, Dr. 
Junker wrote, in July, to the Gotha Mitteilungen, that 
a messenger who had left Khartoum on the 25th of 
May, had arrived in Cairo, and stated that he had 
been an eye-witness of the preparations that the 
Mahdi had been making, during the previous two 
months, for a great attack upon the Egyptian Gov- 
ernment in the southern provinces. It was stated, 
moreover, that the expedition was to consist of about 
4000 men, and would be conveyed in four steamers 
formerly belonging to Gordon, and by a number of 
ordinary boats. 

This communication caused a good deal of excite- 
ment, both amongst Emin's friends and the general 
public, and the dismay was considerably increased 
when ten days later a Reuter's telegram announced 
that at the beginning of April Emm Pasha's position 
had become exceedingly critical, inasmuch as on the 
12th an envoy from the Mahdi had summoned him to 
surrender. 

A despatch like this could not fail again to set all 
manner of sinister rumours afloat. Some English 
newspapers announced, that according to information 
sent from the Congo by Mr. Ward, Major Barttelot 
had sent out detachments of troops from the Aruwimi 
camp to reconnoitre Stanle} 7 's advance-route, and that 
the men brought back the tidings that the way was 
strewn with human bones. 

On the 12th of October the Standard published a 
notice, detailing the circumstance of Casati's death : 
"All Emin's communications," it ran, " with the East 
Coast have been cut off by the hostility of Kabrega, 
King of the Unyoro, who ordered both the Tripoli 
merchant, Mohammed Biri, and Captain Casati, to be 
killed." 

Within three weeks afterwards, L'Echo du Nord, 

*It now seems tolerablv certain that the White Pasha whose exploits 
were re-echoed from Khartoum was Captain von G-ele, of the Congo Free 
State, who at the beginning of thu year had been arrested in his explora- 
tion of the Welle, by the hostility of Ihe Yakoma people, near the conflu- 
ence of the Mbomo, which has its source somewhere in proximity to the 
sources of nearly all the principal affluents of the Bahr-el.GhazaU 



140 FIFTEEN MONTHS OF UNCERTAINTY. 

published at Lille, circulated a statement that the 
President of the Lille Geograpical Institute had re- 
ceived intelligence of the death of Stanley, who had 
been massacred with all his followers, two porters 
alone escaping. 

Another month had hardly passed when the Suakin 
telegraph again took up the dismal tale, and matters 
seemed to be looking more and more gloomy, as the 
particulars given became more precise, and were for- 
warded on the authority of the English officers on the 
Eed Sea. 

The account already mentioned, as appearing in the 
Gotha Mitteilungen, and declaring that an expedi- 
tion was being organised against Emin Pasha, so far 
aroused the interest of Colonel Rundle, the Governor 
of Suakin, that in the hope of obtaining accurate in- 
formation he sent a special message of inquiry direct 
to the Mahdi. 

The answer was not long in coming ; it was a letter 
sent by Osman Digna himself, as chief of the forces of 
the Mahdi before Suakin ; it was addressed to Gen- 
eral Grenfell, the Commander of the English garri- 
son ; its language was to this effect : — 

u In the name of the great and merciful God, this 
is sent by Osman Digna to the Christian who is Gov- 
ernor at Suakin. 

" Let me inform you that a short time ago Rundle 
sent me a letter to ask about the man who is ruling in 
the Equatorial province. 

"On receiving this letter I sent at once to the 
Khalifa, who informs me that the troops there have 
made prisoners of the governor and of a traveller who 
was with him. Both of them are now in irons and in 
the hands of our chief. 

"The whole province has now submitted to us, and 
the inhabitants make allegiance to the Mahdi. We 
have captured all their arms and ammunition ; we 
have carried off all the officers to the Khalifa, who 
received them well, and they are now living with him. 
They have given up all their flags. 

" You may tell Rundle, therefore, what has become 
of the governor. 
■ u I subjoin copies of the letters which have been sent 



LETTER FROM OMAR SALEH. 141 

by our chief to the Khalifa, and by Tewfik to the gov- 
ernor aforesaid. 

" I send also, that you may see it, some of the am- 
munition that has been brought from the Equator. 

U I pray God to give victory to the believers and 
destruction to the infidels. 

"Osman Tjigna." 

Enclosed were the transcripts of the two letters. 
The one from the Mahdist chief who was asserted to 
have made himself master of the province was in this 
form : — 

"In the name of the great and merciful God: — 
This letter is written by one of the lowliest servants 
of Allah to the Chief Khalifa. We advanced with the 
steamers and reached the town of Lado, where Emin, 
the Murdir of the Equator, had his quarters. We ar- 
rived there on the 25 Safar 1306. 

"We owe our thanks to the officers and soldiers 
who made our victory easy. Before our arrival they 
had captured Emin and a traveller who was with him, 
and had put them in irons. The officers and men re- 
fused to go to Egypt with the Turks. 

" Tewfik sent to Emin a traveller called Stanley. 
By Stanley he sent a letter to Emin, ordering him to 
go back with Stanley. To the rest of the forces he 
gave the option of going to Cairo, or remaining where 
they were. They refused to obey the Turkish orders 
and received us joyfully. 

" I also send a copy of the letter which was written 
by Tewfik to Emin ; and I send besides the flags which 
we have taken from the Turks. 

" I understand that another traveller had arrived to 
join Emin, but that he has left again. I am seeking 
for him, and if he returns, I shall certainly take him 
prisoner. 

" I have found all the chief officers and residents 
delighted to receive us. 

" I have taken all the arms and ammunition. 

" I instruct you to send back to me the officers and 
the head commissioners when }^ou have seen them and 
given them your directions. They will be of service 
to me. 

"Omar Saleh," 



142 FIFTEEN MONTHS OF UNCERTAINTY. 

The excitement caused by news such as this may- 
well be imagined. In the House of Commons on the 
14th of December the First Lord of the Treasury, in 
reply to a question, confirmed the report that General 
Grenfell had received a communication from Osman 
Digna purporting to inform him of the capture of 
Emin and Stanley at Lado ; and for a couple of days 
the alleged disaster was the prominent event that en- 
gaged the public attention. The news now, it was 
presumed, did not depend upon any despatch of ques- 
tionable authority, but might be taken as authentic. 
After Dr. Junker's announcement that an expedition 
was about to leave Khartoum for Lado in May or 
June, it was not at all impossible for Emin to be made 
a prisoner in October ; as for Stanley, his having 
joined Emin was equally likely, since Osman pro- 
fessed to have a letter from the Khedive addressed to 
Emin, and it was known, as matter of fact, that Stan- 
ley had been the bearer of such a letter from Cairo. 

But if the suspense was great, it was soon over. 

An interval of fifteen months had elapsed in which 
the telegraph had never transmitted any but dubious 
or mournful messages, when suddenly a voice was 
heard that proclaimed the real condition of affairs. 
That voice was Stanley's own. 

In the House of Commons, just a week after Mr. 
W. H. Smith had spoken of the letter to General 
Grenfell, Mr. Goschen asked leave to read a telegram 
that had just been received by Reuter's agency. 
Silence ensued, and he read as follows : — 

" S. Thomas, December 21, 1888. 
" Letters from Stanley Falls, dated August 21, 
1888, state that on the previous day a letter had been 
received from Stanley, announcing that he was at 
Banalya, on the Aruwimi. He had left Emin Pasha 
eighty-two days previously in perfect health, and well 
supplied with provisions. He had retraced his steps 
in order to bring up his rear company and their loads. 
He had arrived at Banalya on the 17th of August, and 
expected to start again in ten days to rejoin Emin. 
All the white men belonging to the expedition were 
well." 



STANLEY SAFE. 143 

The communication coming so speedily and so 
opportunely after the previous alarming reports was 
received with unbounded enthusiasm. The whole 
House rose to its feet and cheered for joy. Stanley 
was free ! 

It was now plain that Stanley could not be the 
Mahdi's prisoner, because on the 17th of August he 
was only a few days' march from the Falls, and the 
news of his capture wns manifestly false. Was there 
not, therefore, reason to hope that Emin was also at 
liberty, and that none of Osman Digna's assertions 
were to be received as trustworthy? 

Confirmation of the happy tidings was not wanting. 
The next day a telegram was received from M. Lede- 
ganck, the vice-governor of Boma, addressed to the 
Central Committee at Brussels : — 

11 S. Thomas, December 22, 1888." 
u Tippoo Tib has had a letter from Stanley, dated 
Bonalya, August 17. Stanley was well. He had left 
Emin at the Nyanza eighty-two days before. Emin 
had sufficient provisions ; he was in good health, and 
Casati too. He announced his intention of taking up 
his loads from Yambuya and returning to Emin." 

Thus by the two brief telegrams now received all 
the misgivings and uncertainty of the last fifteen 
months were set at rest. The expedition had accom- 
plished its design. Stanley had made his way and 
joined Emin Pasha. Only when this was done had he 
retraced his steps to bring up the residue of his 
caravan. 

The details of this heroic march and of his meeting 
with Emin have been given by Stanley in a report sent 
to the Relief Committee in London, and in a letter ad- 
dressed to the Royal Geographical Society. A resume 
qf them will form the substance of the two succeeding 
chapters. 



144 YAMBUYA CAMP TO ALBERT NYANZA. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

YAMBUYA CAMP TO ALBERT NYANZA. 

On the march — First skirmish with natives — The rapids — The Nepoko — 
Meeting with Arabs — A devastated region — Famine — Desertions — In the 
forest for 160 days — Through villages and fields — The chief Mazamboni — 
Declaration of war — Forward for the Nyanza ! 

Leaving Yambuya on the 28th of June 1887, the 
caravan for the first day followed the bank of the 
river. For a time the road was practicable, bat a dif- 
ficulty soon began to present itself from the creepers, 
varying from an inch to a foot in thickness, that inter- 
laced themselves in arches across the path, and had to 
be cut away with hatchets. 

On the following day the column made its encamp- 
ment at Yankonde, a considerable village just op- 
posite the rapids. As the river was found to be tak- 
ing too northerly a direction, a course had to be made 
across the manioc fields and through a teeming popu- 
lation. Every device that the natives could invent to 
molest and impede the advance of the caravan was 
adopted. Repeatedly shallow holes were dug in the 
path, and these were filled with sharp spikes, cun- 
ningly concealed by leaves. To those who walked 
over them barefooted the agony was terrible ; the feet 
were not only severely lacerated, but frequently the 
spikes would remain in the flesh and cause gangrenous 
sores. Ten men were so crippled- in this way as to be 
almost liors de combat. At the approach to each vil- 
lage there was usually a straight, well-cleared path- 
way, about one hundred yards long and four yards 
wide, and these were literally bristling with the skew- 
ers, always artfully hidden from sight. The proper 
paths would have led by a considerable detour, but 
these were made to have the most inviting aspect. 
At the entrance of each village a sentinel had been 
placed with a drum to sound out an alarm. 

The river-bank was regained on the 5th of July, and 
as there are no rapids immediately in front, Stanley 



THROUGH THE FOREST. 145 

brought his boat into requisition, and found it of in- 
estimable service, as it not only conveyed the sick 
and wounded, but also carried two tons of baggage. 
In his first letter to Major Barttelot he wrote : — " If I 
had to begin over again I should collect the largest 
canoes I could, and an adequate supply of rowers, 
and I should use them for the sick and for baggage. 
Between Yambuya and the Nyanza the canoes are 
many and capacious enough, but unfortunately, the 
Zanzibaris are miserably poor hands at rowing. There 
are scarcely fifty men in my whole troop who know 
how to handle a paddle. We can do as much in one 
day by land, as in two by water.' ' 

Onwards from the 15th of July to the 18th of Octo- 
ber the column kept continually to the left bank of 
the Aruwimi, making no deviation. The sufferings of 
the men, the vast extent of the forest with its number- 
less intricacies, the unwholesome atmosphere, the al- 
most incessant rain, altogether combined to make it 
unadvisable to venture far away from the river, where 
at any rate there was a tolerable certainty of procur- 
ing food from the villages on its border. 

Hereabouts, the Aruwimi varies from 500 to 900 
yards in width, its course broken by islands, single 
and in groups, which are the resort of oyster-fisher- 
men. Insects of many kinds, flies and butterflies es- 
pecially, are innumerable ; for hours every day swarms 
of these butterflies may be seen crossing over the 
water. The villages succeeded one after another well- 
nigh without a break, their united population reckon- 
ing many thousands, and belonging chiefly 7 to the 
tribes of the Banalya, the Bakubana and the Bungan- 
geta. As might be expected, throughout the district 
there was abundance of food. 

On the 9th of July the caravan reached the rapids 
of Gwengwere, the region being still quite populous. 
Although the villages are so continuous, the residents 
appear to belong to a number of different small tribes ; 
as immediately at the rapids the people are Bakoka, 
only little higher up they are Bapupa, Bandangi, and 
Banali, and further inland are Bambalulu and Baburu. 
These last occupy a considerable region, and give the 
Aruwimi the name of " Lubali." 

At this period the mornings were generally dark 



146 YAMBUYA CAMP TO ALBERT NYANZA. 

and gloomy, the sky obscured by heavy clouds. Oc- 
casionally everything was in a dense fog, which did 
not clear off until nine o'clock, and sometimes not 
much before midday. In this dim condition of the at- 
mosphere nothing stirred ; the insects seemed asleep ; 
death-like silence reigned through the forest ; the 
river in its dark fringe of massy vegetation lay mute 
and sombre as a grave. If rain did not follow, and the 
sun began to disperse the mists, as light penetrated 
the vapour everything would again start into life ; 
butterflies sport in the air, the solitary ibis raise its 
note of alarm, the diving-bird plunge into the stream ; 
there would be movement all around. Suddenly, the 
drum was heard, the natives from afar had descried 
the advancing troop, and shouting vociferously had 
seized their glistening spears, and were ready for hos- 
tilities. 

Encampment was made, on July 17th, at the rapids 
of Mariri, beyond which, on both sides of the river, 
resides a large number of the Mupe. Up to this 
point there is no real cataract ; the rapids are formed 
by reefs of rock between which the waters force a 
passage, but they so entirely prevent navigation that 
boats have to be unloaded and carried, as well as 
their cargoes, beyond the limits of the obstruction. 

Beyond the Mupe, towards the north, is the tribe 
of the Bandeya ; in the interior are the Batua, to the 
east the Mabode, and on the south the Bundiba, the 
Binyali, and the Bakongo. 

At Mug wye, above the Bandeya rapids, stands a 
group of seven villages surrounded by magnificent 
banana plantations and manioc fields, extending over 
an area of some miles. Here a whole day was lost 
in bartering for provisions, at very costly rates. The 
distrustful and unconciliatory spirit of the natives was 
very great, so that at a large outlay of cowries and 
brass rods only a few ears of corn could be procured 
for about a third part of the caravan. 

Above Mug wye are the Panga Falls, having a de- 
scent of about 30 feet ; and these are succeeded by 
the Nejambi rapids. 

During the next ten days the services of three 
porters were lost, two of them having deserted, and 
one having died of dysentery. These were the only 



CASUALTIES. 147 

casualties since the start, so that for thirty-four clays 
the course, as Stanley said, had been " singularly 
successful." 

But the expedition had now to enter upon a wilder- 
ness, through which it took nine days to march. Suf- 
ferings began to be aggravated, so that several deaths 
occurred. Fortunately, the river was available for 
some distance, and canoes could be employed in re- 
lieving the disabled of their loads, and thus progress, 
if not so rapid as at first, w r as still steady. 

On August 13th the expedition arrived at Air- 
Sibba. Here the natives showed an angry front, ap- 
parently resolved to oppose the passage of the car- 
avan. Five men were killed by poisoned arrows. 
Lieutenant Stairs was wounded just below the heart, 
but although he suffered severely for more than a 
month, he happily recovered. 

The porters were obliged to take every possible 
precaution against these destructive weapons, which 
were here in such free use. When the poison is fresh 
a wound is invariably mortal. The injury to Lieuten- 
ant Stairs was not improbably caused by an arrow of 
which the poison had lost its efficacy, so that he was 
nearly convalescent after some weeks, although the 
wound was some time longer before it was thoroughly 
healed. A man who received a slight scratch on the 
wrist died" in five days of tetanus; another who was 
touched in the muscle of the arm near the shoulder 
lived only a few hours longer; and a third, slightly 
cut on the throat, succumbed in about the same time 
also, a victim to lock-jaw. 

Stanley made every endeavour to find out whence 
this deadly poison was obtained. He observed in the 
huts various packets of dried red ants. He thus 
knew that the bodies of the ants, after being dried 
and ground to powder, were cooked in palm-oil, and 
that this was the composition that was applied to the 
spear-heads, and made them such fatal missiles. 

On July 25th the encampment was at Air-Jali, 
the point of confluence of the Nepoko with the 
Aruwimi. 

The Nepoko comes from the north, and is the river 
of which Dr. Junker explored the source near the resi- 
dence of the Mombuttu chief Sanga. At its mouth it\ 



148 YAMBUYA CAMP TO ALBERT NYANZA. 

is more than 300 yards wide, and falls into the 
Aruwimi by a cataract. 

From the Congo to the Nepoko the banks of the 
Aruwimi are almost uniformly low, never exceeding 
an altitude of 40 feet ; higher up their elevation be- 
comes greater, and they are frequently crowned with 
forests of palm-trees, the stems of some of which are 
as gigantic as any of those which grow on the Lower 
Congo. The natives have a singular method of clear- 
ing the woods : having constructed a platform some 
16 feet high, they cut down the trees, hundreds at a 
time, to this level, so that at first sight a tract of land 
that has been subject to this treatment presents very 
much the appearance of a city of ruined temples. 

The stream seems to be a boundary line between 
two distinctive styles of building ; below the point of 
confluence all the huts are conical ; but above it, the 
villages are all composed of square huts, generally 
surrounded by tall logs of the Rubiaceae wood, which 
form a sort of outwork, offering a good position for 
defence for men with firearms, and requiring a con- 
siderable force to overcome and capture. 

Navigation henceforward becomes more difficult ; 
above the Nepoko, rapids are frequent, and there are 
two falls of some magnitude. The country rises grad- 
ually for 400 miles from Yambuya, and at last the 
river is shut in by the vertical walls of a canon, and 
its breadth confined to a channel that is scarcely 100 
yards across. All along, whatever diversities may 
characterise the soil, one uniform feature prevails, in- 
asmuch as mountain peaks, plains and valleys are all 
covered with forest, and there is not an open space 
that has not been cleared by the hand of man. 

For some days longer the course of the Aruwimi 
was followed, until it became impossible to contend 
with the increasing vehemence of the stream. The 
boat and canoes had to be unloaded. 

Only after two months, at the end of August, could 
real misfortunes be said to begin. In choosing the 
Aruwimi route Stanley had been influenced by the 
hope that he should avoid the Arabs who so frequently 
entice the porters to desert. Disappointed in his de- 
sign, he now fell in with one of their caravans, meet- 
ing a party of Manyema, belonging to a certain 



tjgarrowwa's station. 149 

Ugarrowwa, otherwise known as Uledi Balyuz, who 
had formerly been in Speke's service as a tent-boy. 
As if to verify Stanley's forebodings, w T ithin three 
days of the rencontre twenty-six of his followers had 
disappeared. 

Ugarrowwa' s station was further up on the rig] it 
hand bank of the river. The caravan reached the spot 
on the 16th of September, but as he had so completely 
devastated the country that food was scarce, only a 
brief halt was made. Stanley, however, left fifty-six 
of his men with Ugarrowwa, engaging to pay him five 
dollars a month each for their keep. It would have 
been certain death for the men to have to proceed 
w r ith the caravan in their debilitated condition, while 
with a few weeks' rest they were not unlikely to re- 
cover their strength. On starting again the expe- 
dition, all told, amounted to 266 men. Of the 388 
men who had originally set out from Yambuya, 66 
had been lost by desertion and death, and 56 more had 
to be left sick at the Arab station. 

Another Arab settlement was reached on the 15th 
of October. This was the headquarters of Kilonga- 
Longa, once a Zanzibar! slave belonging to Abed-ben- 
Salim, an old trader whose bloody deeds are recorded 
in " The Congo and the Founding of its Free State." 

The month of October was, as Stanley has said, 
u an awful month;" no member of the expedition, 
white or black, will ever forget it. The entire region 
had been so thoroughly laid waste by the Arabs that 
not a single native hut had been left standing. What- 
ever had not been ransacked by Kilonga's slaves had 
been uprooted by elephants, so that the district w-as 
one vast wilderness. The reserve of provisions hav- 
ing been exhausted, the men were obliged, as best 
they could, to exist upon wild fruit and different sorts 
of fungus. 

On attempting to renew the march, the porters were 
found to be so weak that they were quite unable to 
carry the boat and the diminished loads ; and thus it 
was that they had to be left where they were, under 
the supervision of Dr. Parke and Captain Nelson, the 
latter of whom was incapable of proceeding farther 
without rest. To add to the general misfortune, the 
:men who were in condition to go on had allowed 



150 YAMBUYA CAMP TO ALBERT NYANZA. 

themselves to be so miserably cheated and plundered 
by the slaves, who took their rifles, their ammuni- 
tion, and even their clothing, that when they set out 
afresh, they were in a state of beggary and naked. 
To such distress was the expedition now reduced. 

After twelve days' perseverance in a most painful 
march, the caravan arrived at a native village, called 
Ibwiri. It proved to be a populous place and well 
supplied with provisions ; but so dire had been the 
effect of the privation endured for successive weeks 
that the men had become mere skeletons. Of the 266 
who had made a start from Ugarrowwa's quarters, 
only 174 survived to reach Ibwiri. 

A halt for thirteen days was made at Ibwiri, an op- 
portunity that was enjoyed by the men, who feasted 
abundantly upon goat-flesh, poultry, bananas, yams, 
and all the good things that seemed inexhaustible. 
So beneficial was the effect that when mustered for 
another start on November 24th, they were all sleek 
and robust, and so revived in spirits that they were 
ready to follow Stanley to the world's end. 

It is true that there was still a journey before them 
of 126 miles before the Nyanza would be reached, but 
now in recruited strength and with plenty of food such 
a distance counted for nothing. 

On arriving on the 1st of December at the summit 
of an elevated ridge, they were able to see the open 
country where their endurances would all come to an 
end. They were now leaving behind them the dark 
interminable forest ; the gloom that had overshad- 
owed them for 160 days was becoming a thing of the 
past ; they were about to emerge upon the open plain. 

Stanley himself thus writes of this period: — " Try 
and imagine some of our inconveniences. Take a 
thick Scottish copse, dripping with rain ; imagine this 
copse to be a mere undergrowth, nourished under the 
impenetrable shade of ancient trees, ranging from 100 
to 180 feet high ; briars and thorns abundant ; lazy 
creeks meandering through the jungle, and sometimes 
a deep affluent of a great river. Imagine this forest 
and jungle in all stages of decay and growth, old 
trees falling, leaning perilously over, fallen prostrate ; 
ants and insects of all kinds, sizes, and colours mur- 
muring aro'ind; monkeys and chimpanzees above, 



FOREST GLOOM . 151 

queer noises of birds and animals, crashes in the jun- 
gle as troops of elephants rush away ; dwarfs with 
poisoned arrows securely hidden behind some buttress 
or in some dark recess ; strong brown -bodied aborig- 
ines with terribly sharp spears standing poised, still 
r.s dead stumps ; rain pattering down upon you every 
other day ; an impure atmosphere, with its dread con- 
sequences, fever and dysentery ; gloom throughout the 
day, and dark almost palpable throughout the night ; 
then if you will imagine such a forest extending the 
entire distance from Plymouth to Peterhead, you will 
have a fair idea of some of the inconveniences en- 
dured by us from June 28th to December 5th, 1887." 

In ano,' :er letter Stanley further writes: " After 
160 days' continuous gloom we saw the light of broad 
day shining all around us and making all things beau- 
tiful. We thought we had never seen grass so green, 
nor country so lovely. The men literally yelled and 
leaped for joy, and raced over the ground with their 
burdens. Ah ! this was the old spirit of former ex- 
peditions successfully completed all of a sudden re- 
vived. Woe betide the native aggressor we may 
meet, however powerful he may be ; with such a spirit 
the men will fling themselves like wolves on sheep. 
Numbers will not be considered. It had been the eter- 
nal forest that had made them abject slavish creat- 
ures, so brutally plundered by Arab slaves at Kilonga- 
Longa's." 

Yet these were the very men who had turned a deaf 
ear to prayers and entreaties when, a few weeks pre- 
viously, their intrepid leader had tried to rally them 
by saying: " Beyond these raiders lies a country 
untouched, where food is abundant, and where you 
will forget your miseries ; so cheer up, boys ; be men, 
press on a little faster. " 

A few days more and the expedition entered the 
territory of the Bakumu, of which the different tribes 
extend to the south-west nearly as far as Stanley 
Falls. Their chief on the Aruwimi is the powerful 
Mazamboni. Their villages are numerous and large. 
As a rule they consist of a single street, from 10 to 
20 yards in width, bordered by huts that are nearly 
uniform in size and height, and placed so close to- 
gether as not unfrequently to look like a single struc- 



152 YAMBUYA CAMP TO ALBERT NYANZA. 

ture 200, 300 or even 400 yards long. Cultivated 
fields and pasture-lands enclose them all. 

Here the natives again had sighted the caravan from 
a long distance, and at once set themselves in array 
to resist its progress. It was about four o'clock in 
the afternoon when Stanley led his column into the 
centre of a group of villages, and at once set to work 
to construct a zeriba as fast as billhooks could hack 
down the brushwood. Meanwhile the war-cry could 
be heard pealing from hill to hill ; the natives gath- 
ered themselves by hundreds from every point ; the 
noise of war-horns and drums made it plain that a 
straggle must ensue. Some assailants, over ventur- 
ous, were soon repelled, and a brief skirmish ended in 
the capture of a cow. It provided the men with the 
first meal of beef which they had tasted since they left 
the ocean ! 

The night passed peacefully, both sides making 
preparations for the morrow. The natives were anx- 
ious to know who the intruders were, whence they had 
come, whither they were going, and what were their 
designs. The Europeans, on the other hand, wanted 
.11 the information they could get about the country 
mi its resources. Hours were spent in talking, both 
p.irties keeping at due distance from each other. 

From the natives it was gathered that they were 
subject to Uganda, but that Kabrega was their true 
sovereign, and that now Mazamboni was holding the 
country for Kabrega. As the upshot of the interview 
tlioy accepted some cloth and brass-rods to show their 
chief, who would return an answer the next day. 

It was somewhat startling the following morning to 
hear a man proclaiming that it was Mazamboni's de- 
cision that the caravan must be driven back and ex- 
pelled from the land. A vehement shouting arose from 
the valleys, and two arrows were shot into the camp, 
rims war was declared. The camp was situated be- 
tween two ranges of hills, one above and one be- 
low. The upper range was seen to be lined with hun- 
dreds of natives preparing to descend, and nearly as 
many seemed mustering in the valley. 

There was no time to lose. Forthwith Stanley hur- 
ried forth a detachment of forty men under Lieutenant 
Stairs to attack the valley, whilst Mr. Jephson was 



FLIGHT OF THE NATIVES. 153 

sent with thirty men to the east. A choice body of 
sharpshooters was also sent to test the courage of 
those descending the mountain. 

The resistance did not last long. Lieutenant Stairs 
crossed a deep and narrow river in the face of 
hundreds of natives, and took the first village by 
assault. The sharpshooters did their work well, and 
drove the descending natives rapidly up the slope, un- 
til there was a general flight. Meantime Jephson 
was not idle ; he marched straight up the valley to 
the east, driving the people back and taking their vil- 
lages as he went. By 3 p.m. there was not a native 
visible anywhere within a mile and a half. 

On the morning of the 12th, the march was contin- 
ued. During that day and the following day there 
were some skirmishes, but only of slight importance. 

The course was now due east. The Ituri, as the 
Aruwimi is here called, had been left behind, and the 
caravan was now on the top of the plateau. About 
1 p. 3i. a shout was heard from Stanley : " Now, men, 
look out ! prepare for a sight of the Nyanza ! " The 
people were doubtful; they kept murmuring: "Why 
does the master keep talking to us in this wa} T ? Ny- 
anza, indeed ! Isn't it all a plain? and do we not see 
mountains for four days' march ahead?" But it was 
true, nevertheless. Within half an hour they could 
see the Nyanza below them : the great goal and object 
of their journey was lying expanded at their feet. A 
cheer rose involuntarily : " Hurrah for the Nyanza ! " 
The negroes who had mistrusted the assurances of 
their leader came running to kiss his hands and to ask 
pardon for their incredulity. 

i There on the summit of Baker's Blue Mountains, on 
'the ridge between the basins of the Congo and the 
Nile, stood Stanley to enjo}^ his triumph and to feel 
that he had his reward. The lake which was navigated 
by Emin's steamers was outstretched in front of him. 
The huts of Kavalli, the objective point of the expe- 
dition, were but six miles away. With what impa- 
tience had the explorer traced the lessening of the long 
itinerary on his map ! With what ardour had he 
mounted the elevation that overlooks the Aruwimi re- 
gion ! With what eagerness had he crossed the plain 
on which both Nile and Con 2:0 take their origin ! With 



154 y rrnjYA camp to albert nyanza. 

what anxiety had he scanned the distant view, and 
peered through the foliage of the palms to catch a 
glimpse of the lake that he knew should be close at 
hand ! And there it was ! Its waters were sparkling 
before his eyes. It was reached at last ! 

At what cost the end had been attained it is hard to 
realise : the endurance, the effort, and the determina- 
tion by which it was achieved none but those devoted 
followers who undauntedly kept true to their master 
can actually know. 

Thus on the confines of Emm's province, it became 
Stanley's next concern to put himself into direct com- 
munication with Emiu, so that he should be apprised 
of the arrival of the expedition that had come out for 
his relief. 

But where was he? Was Emin within reach? 

On leaving Cairo in January 1887, Stanley had had 
no later news of Emin Pasha than what had been 
brought by Dr. Junker in the previous year. Three 
years therefore had elapsed, and what might not have 
transpired in the time ? There was room for many 
speculations. What had been happening in the Sou- 
dan ? Had the Mahdists made any fresh advance to- 
wards the south? Had the natives in the Upper Nile 
remained submissive ? Had the black soldiers and the 
Egyptian officers kept faithful ? Might not Emin and 
Casati have fallen victims to treachery, and shared 
the fate of Gordon ? Although AVolseley had reached 
his goal, had he not arrived too late? 

Happily, however, there was no need for these 
apprehensions. Although Stanley himself for seven 
months in the untr a versed woods of Africa had been 
cut off from communication with the world, and was 
ignorant of the situation, Europe had already been 
apprised of the safety both of the Pasha and his com- 
panion, by letters received from them on the East 
Coast. 

Both men were free. Since Dr. Junker's departure 
nothing had occurred to disturb the peace of the prov- 
ince, and although the store of provisions was getting 
low, the troops had remained faithful in their alle- 
giance, and the Egyptian flag still floated unchallenged 
over the fourteen stations and two steamers on the 
Upper Nile. 



MESSAGE PROM CAS AT:. 155 

The approach of Stanley's expedition, by the way 
of the Congo, had been already made known to Eniin 
by messengers who had left Zanzibar in January, ar- 
riving at the lake in May. The arrival of the relief 
party was consequently expected. On August 15, 
1887, Emin had written from Wadelai to his friend 
Dr. Felkin in Edinburgh, and mentioned that he had 
despatched some messengers to the south-west to 
make inquiries about Stanley ; and in November he 
wrote again to Zanzibar, saying : u All well ; on best 
terms with chiefs and people : will be leaving shortly 
for Kibiro, on east of Lake Albert. Have sent re- 
connoitring party to look out for Stanley, which had 
to return with no news yet. Stanley expected about 
December 15th." 

Casati had also received information of what Stan- 
ley was doing; but less sanguine than Emin, he esti- 
mated approximately that the arrival of the caravan 
would be about the following March. Cn the 5th of 
December he wrote from Giuai'a to his friend Captain 
Camperio : " For ray part, I do not believe that Stan- 
ley will arrive yet. No news even of the most vague 
character has yet reached us from the west. I am, in 
my own mind, convinced that unless fortune has sig- 
nally smiled upon his enterprise, he cannot be ex- 
pected here until March." 

Eight days after sending his letter, If Casati had 
been using his telescope, and scanning the shores of 
Lake Nyanza, he might have descried a concourse of 
men on the summit of the plateau ; he might have 
seen that the mass was in motion, and would not have 
been long in concluding that here was the caravan for 
which they were on the lookout. It had actually 
touched the margin of the lake on the very day that 
had been forecast by Emin ! 

Neverthploss, before the three brave adventurers 
were to meet, lout months had yet to elapse. 



15G MEETING OF STANLEY AND EMIK. 



CHAPTER XV. 

MEETING OF STANLEY AND EMIN. 

The Albert Nyanza— The camp at Kavalli— Where is Emin ?— Stanley makes 
retreat — Fort Bodo — Dwarfs of Central Africa — Travels of Lieutenant 
Stairs — Illness of Stanley — On the march — Return to the Lake — A letter 
from Emin— Jephson reconnoitring— Meeting of Stanley, Emin, and Caeati 
— In council. 

From the ridge of the plateau whence the expedi- 
tion first sighted the Nyanza the view extends to an 
indefinite horizon. 

The confluence of the Aruwimi is about 1250 feet 
above the level of the sea ; thence the laborious as- 
cent of the wooded terraces had to be made between 
which the river runs to join the Congo, forming nu- 
merous rapids and cascades as it rolls along. The 
pathway kept on a gradual rise, and eventually ob- 
tained an altitude of 5200 feet. After arriving at the 
eastern limit of the basin, they soon found that the 
plateau was making a sudden decline, and widening 
out so as to form a great hollow, in which, some 2900 
feet below them, the surface of the waters of the 
southern shore of the lake lay outstretched, like a 
sheet of quicksilver in the midday sun. 

About twenty miles away towards the east the 
peaked summits of Unyoro are conspicuous. The 
hills appear to rise immediately from the water to a 
height of 1000 or perhaps 1500 feet. So clear is the 
atmosphere that every indentation of the outline can 
be distinguished. Beyond these, in remoter distance, 
are the elevated plains of Kabrega's kingdom, where 
for two years Casati has been stationed in order to 
keep open the route towards the East Coast. 

To the southward lies the valley of the Semliki, a 
river that flows at the foot of one of the most Alpine 
districts in Africa, its mountains rising in domes and 
peaks, some of them, like the Gordon-Bennett and 
Edwin Arnold, assuming the most striking forms ; 
whilst the whole region is dominated by the majestic 



THE ALBERT NYANZA. 157 

Ruwenzori, clad in eternal snow, and 15,000 feet in 
height. 

Northwards the lake becomes wider ; but the view- 
in that direction is not extensive. About 250 miles 
from Kavalli the lake gives birth to the White Nile, 
which passes Wadelai as it flows towards Khartoum. 

It is asserted that about a century ago the length of 
the lake was certainly fifteen miles more than its pres- 
ent measurement ; its waters must therefore have cov- 
ered the forests of ambatch and the tracts of reeds 
and papyrus which are now traversed by the lower 
course of the Semliki. The cause of this retreat of 
the water from its ancient bounds may not improbably 
be attributed to the gradual wearing away of sandy 
shoals and rocks in the Nile below Wadelai. The 
encroachment of the shore is greatest on the west- 
ern side, and Emin asserts his belief that several 
islands (one in particular called Tun guru) which some 
years ago were at a considerable distance from the 
margin of the lake, are now quite contiguous to the 
mainland, and are tenanted by residents. In a good 
many places towards the southern end of the lake, the 
brown tint of the water indicates its shallowness, and 
not unfrequently, even some miles oat, the bottom can 
be reached by a sounding pole. 

As they descend towards the water the slopes of the 
hill-sides are somewhat steep ; they are not covered 
with very much vegetation, except in the moist ravines 
and interstices where magnificent shrubs and giant eu- 
phorbiae are sure to be found in large profusion ; and 
if anywhere the glitter of a tiny cascade shines through 
the foliage, there, almost to a certainty, may be seen 
the date-palm rearing on high its graceful plume. 

On the narrow strips of level ground between the 
mountain foot and the water's edge are various little 
groups of huts, with their adjoining fields, on which 
they grow their bananas, or where, on the rich short 
pasture, they keep the herds of cows and goats that 
graze peacefully together. 

Occasionally the waters of the lake will lose them- 
selves in enormous banks of reeds, floating masses of 
vegetation, too dense for any canoes to penetrate ; 
elsewhere they gently ripple over beds of white peb- 
bles where the fishing-boats are moored. 



158 MEETING OF STANLEY AND EMIN. 

In Indian file, on the evening of December 13, the 
expedition made its descent along the zigzag pathway, 
and settled itself in an encampment at the base of the 
hills, abont half a mile from the lake, between the vil- 
lages of Kavalli and Kakongo. 

Jnst as it had happened on the higher ground, the 
natives here, too, manifested considerable disquietude 
at the unlooked-for appearance of so large a caravan 
of strangers, with white men at their head. They did 
not proceed to any overt hostility, but it was quite 
evident that they did not approve of such a body of 
intruders coming amongst them. In the conversations 
into which they entered with Stanley they avowed that 
they had never seen any boats upon the lake, except 
their own. If this were so, what was the conclusion 
to be drawn? Was it not obvious that the couriers 
who had been sent from Zanzibar to prepare Emin be- 
forehand, for the arrival of an expedition in January, 
must have been delayed? Otherwise Emin would 
have been sure to send over his two steamers to the 
south-west, and to make proper provision for securing 
from the natives a hospitable reception for the caravan 
whenever it should come. Every indication seemed 
to point to the conclusion that Emin Pasha had not 
been apprised of Stanley's near approach. 

What now should be done? The journey from 
Kavalli to Wadelai was far too long and too arduous 
to be attempted without boats by an expedition so re- 
duced in strength, and yet no canoes were to be had ; 
as for Stanley's own boat, that had been left at 
Kilonga-Longa's, 190 miles away. 

Stanley took his two officers, Messrs. Stairs and 
Jephson, into consultation, and after prolonged dis- 
cussion arrived at the conviction that the only practi- 
cable course to be followed was to make a retreat to 
Ibwiri on the Aruwimi, where he would build a fort, 
and whence he would send a detachment to Kilonga- 
Longa's to fetch his boat and bring on Captain Nelson 
and Dr. Parke. Within the fort he determined to 
store every load that would be left behind, and he 
would arrange for an adequate garrison to defend it, 
and to grow sufficient maize and manioc for supplying 
themselves with food. He would then return to Lake 
Nyanza, and while encamped there he would despatch 



FORT BODO. 159 

his boat with an officer and some men to go forward 
and institute inquiries as to Emm's whereabouts. 

Such was the programme which it was resolved to 
carry out. 

Accordingly on the 15th the retreat commenced. 
The movements of the caravan were more or less har- 
assed by the ill-will of the natives of Kavalli, who 
succeeded during the march of the retiring cavalcade 
on the upward slope in killing one man and wounding 
a second. 

By 10 a.m. on the 16th the crest of the plateau was 
reached, and the progress bock along the plain was 
not interrupted by Mozamboni's people. The march 
was continued steadily day by day without hindrance, 
and on the 8th of January 1888 the caravan was once 
more in Ibwiri, the hospitable refuge where two months 
previously it had found a welcome abundance and 
much needed repose. 

No time was lost by Stanley in setting about the 
construction of his fortified quarters. He named the 
erection Fort Bodo. He likewise hurried off Lieuten- 
ant Stairs to Kilonga-Longa's to get the boat, and 
to come back with Dr. Parke and Captain Nelson, 
who had been staying there ever since the previous 
September. 

All the forests of this region, as well as those ex- 
tending south-east to the Sankullu, are the last refuge 
of a race of beings of whom the two that were brought 
over by the Italian traveller Miani in 1873 were the only 
examples that have ever been seen in Europe. These 
are the dwarfs of Central Africa. 

Ages back Herodotus had testified to the existence 
of dwarf races in Africa, and Aristotle had asserted 
that the region whence the Nile had its sources was 
the abode of pygmies ; but of modern travellers Dr. 
Schweinfurth, in 1871, was the first, as an eyewitness, 
to verify the existence of such.a race in the heart of 
the continent. At the court of Munza, King of the 
Mombuttu, south of the Welle, the Doctor for the first 
time beheld the living incarnation of the myth of 2000 
years. This was a regiment of dwarf soldiers belong- 
ing to Munza's brother, a chief who resided further 
south in the valley of the Nepoko. 

The existence of such dwarfs may now be said to 



160 MEETING OF STANLEY AND EMIN. 

have been ascertained throughout the central basin of 
the Congo. Stanley saw one individual of the race 
on the Lualaba, below Nyangwe ; Grenfell saw one 
on the Lalongo ; Wolf fell in with another between 
the Lulua and the Sankullu ; Delcommune met one on 
the Lomani ; and Escayrac de Lauture and Koelle 
assert that they are numerous in the northern basin of 
the Mobangi. 

Amongst the Mombuttu they are known by the name 
of Akka or Tikki-tikki ; further to the south and east 
they are called Batua, whilst on the Aruwimi they are 
distinguished as the Wambutti. 

Physically, they are well made ; they are by no 
means the deformities which are frequently exhibited 
as dwarfs in the shows of European fairs ; they are 
simply small men, well proportioned, endowed with 
much bravery, and by no means deficient in adroit- 
ness. Their average height may be stated as about 4 
feet 7 inches. Their complexion is a yellowish brown, 
of a lighter shade than that of the taller African 
races. They form themselves into nomad communi- 
ties, devoting themselves to hunting and to the manu- 
facture of palm-wine, rarely intermingling w^ith tribes 
of ordinary stature. The agility they display in climb- 
ing the palm-trees to extract the sap is very remark- 
able, and they are exceedingly cunning in devising 
artifices for setting traps and snares for game. On 
their hunting excursions they bound over the tall herb- 
age like grasshoppers, fearlessly approaching antelopes, 
buffaloes, and elephants ; first discharging their arrows 
at them with unerring precision, and then rushing 
forward to despatch the wounded victims with their 
spears. They can hardly at present be said to con- 
stitute a nation, but it may be held as not improbable 
that their communities, dispersed among other and 
more powerful peoples, are the expiring remnants of 
an aboriginal race. 

It was chiefly in the district of the Aruwimi, be- 
tween the confluence of the Nepoko and the region of 
the grass-plain, that Stanley came across the dwarfs ; 
but there he computes he saw about one hundred and 
fifty of their villages in the recesses of the forests. 

On January 14th,* Lieutenant Stairs arrived back 
from Kilonga-Longa's, accompanied by Dr. Parke and 



IN MAZAMBONl's COUNTRY. 161 

by Captain Nelson, who had now regained his health ; 
but of the thirty-eight men who had been left in 
charge of these two officials only eleven now re- 
mained ; the rest had either died or deserted. The 
lieutenant had likewise brought up the boat he had 
gone to fetch, with the goods that had been left at 
the Arab settlement. Having accomplished this, he 
was now once more sent down the river, this time as 
far as Ugarrowwa's, to bring up the convalescents 
and a part of the baggage that had been deposited 
there. 

While Stairs was absent on this commission, Stan- 
ley was seized with illness, having an attack of gas- 
tritis and an abscess on his arm ; but though he was 
unwell for nearly a month, he received such careful 
nursing at the hands of Dr. Parke that he was conva- 
lescent before the return of the lieutenant, who was 
away longer than had been anticipated. Anxious to 
lose no more time, Stanley, without waiting, gave the 
order to start, and the expedition, now composed of 
no more than 140 men, took up an ample stock of 
provisions and set out a second time for the Nyanza. 

Captain Nelson was placed in charge of Fort Bodo 
with a garrison of 43 men and lads, who would be 
reinforced by Lieutenant Stairs and the men he would 
bring with him from Ugarrowwa's. 

Once more, on the 20th of April, did the expedi- 
tion find itself in Mazamboni's country. The recep- 
tion that awaited it was very different to what it had 
been before ; instead of the palavers ending in a 
declaration of war, they resulted in a consent from 
Mazamboni to make blood-brotherhood with Stanley. 

It may be accepted, as a general rule, that Euro- 
peans on the Congo, arriving in any unexplored dis- 
trict, would be received with hostilities. Whilst de- 
scending the river in 1877 Stanley found himself 
involved in no less than thirty skirmishes, and Wiss- 
man, Kund, Tappenbeck, Van Gele and de Brazza 
have all had similar experiences. But when after a 
lapse of time the white man reappears on the scene, 
the natives are usually found to be ready to lay aside 
the temper of defiance, and after brief recognition to 
conclude peace by exchange of blood. And this is 
pretty sure to be followed by a solicitation that the 



162 MEETING OF STANLEY AND EMIN. 

strangers will settle down and open traffic m the 
place. 

Although the strength of the expedition was now 
diminished by the loss of fifty rifles, the example of 
Mazamboni to desist from opposition was followed by 
the other chiefs as far as the Nyanza, and no further 
difficulty occurred. Food was supplied on the easiest 
terms, cattle, sheep, and poultry were brought in 
abundance, and never had Stanley and his followers 
lived more luxuriously. 

Thus, once again, on the 21st of April was Stanley 
in full view of the Nyanza. 

And now once more the question arose as to what 
he should hear or see of Emin. Surely by this time 
the Pasha must have been apprised of the arrival of . 
the expedition ; but how should he be found ? 

On his way down to the lake some natives from 
Kavalli had met him and had told him that a white 
man from the north had given their chief a packet 
which was to be handed to another white man who 
was coming from the west ; they had also some won- 
derful story to tell about " big boats, as large as 
islands," which they averred had been seen near their 
villages. 

Stanley entertained little doubt but that these big 
boats must be the steamers from Wadelai, and he in- 
dulged the hope that Emin Pasha might be himself on 
board, a hope that was soon changed to certainty ; for 
next day Kavalli came and brought him a packet pro- 
tected by a strip of black American oil-cloth and en- 
closing a letter from Emin. The letter was dated 
from on board the Khedive, on the 26th of March, and 
addressed to "Mr. Stanley, commander of the relief 
expedition." The tenour of the letter was to this 
effect : — 

' ' A report having been circulated that a large cara- 
van had arrived from the west under the conduct of 
white men, I proceeded in one of my steamers to the 
south end of the lake to make enquiries ; but the na- 
tives were so afraid of Kabrega, the King of Unyoro, 
with whom they are at war, that they associated every 
stranger with him. Thus, at first, I could obtain no 
trustworthy information. 

" Shortly afterwards, however, the wife of the 



MEETING WITH EMIN. 163 

Nyamsassie chief told the chief Mogo, who is on 
friendly terms with me, that she had seen the white 
men and their caravan in Mozamboni's country. At 
once I felt no doubt that you were in this district and 
that we should soon meet. 

" I entrust this letter to Kavalli to hand to you 
when you reach the lake. 

"I am glad to know you are here. I beg you to 
encamp where you are until I can communicate with 
you. (Dr.) Emin." 

Here, then, was good news. Emm Pasha was alive 
and was at liberty ; here he was on one of his steam- 
ers, on his way to meet the expedition. The end was 
on the point of being attained ; here was success, 
(about which all but a few staunch believers in Europe 
had despaired) coming to crown the labours of a year 
of toil, uncertainty, and suffering ! 

Stanley quickly determined that his own boat should 
be sent northwards by the west coast to reconnoitre, 
and in a few hours it was launched and despatched 
with Mr. Jephson and a sufficient staff of men on 
board. Meanwhile, the bulk of the caravan made 
their encampment on the shore. 

Days passed without further news. Stanley and 
Dr. Parke, the only one of his staff now with him, 
scanned the distance constantly with their glasses, 
but in vain. For five days nothing disturbed the soli- 
tude of the great lake, and the sixth day was declining 
when a distant vessel was discerned, which further 
scrutiny made it evident was not their own boat, but 
a steamer. From its stern floated the red flag, with 
the star and crescent. To a certainty here was the 
Khedive, one of the Wadelai ships. 

On the deck were white men, Em in and Casati both. 
Mr. Jephson had fallen in with them on the 26th at 
Mswa, the southernmost of the Egyptian stations. 

The camp was soon in the liveliest commotion ; in- 
action was changed to hubbub and excitement ; mus- 
ketry salutes were fired, and in the midst of noisy 
acclamations the Pasha and his faithful companion 
landed to exchange their mutual greetings with Stanley. 

It was in the evening of the 29th of April, at about 
7 p.m., that this meeting was effected. 



164 MEETING OF STANLEY AND EMIN. 

For six years Emin and Casati had been cut off 
from all communication with the civilised world ; and 
for the last two they had been awaiting the relief 
which Dr. Junker had been despatched to Europe to 
secure. Meanwhile it had fallen to Emin's lot to fight 
and drive back the Mahdists, to repress the revolts of 
the I>ari, and to punish the insubordination and coward- 
ice of his own Egyptian contingent ; he had had to 
encounter unnumbered dangers and to surmount enor- 
mous difficulties in providing for the sustenance of 
more than 8000 men, women, and children. Yet here 
he was ; he had overcome every obstacle and was still 
master of the situation ! 

Captain Casati for three years had had no enviable 
'residence at the court of Kabrega, King of Unyoro. 
The conveyance of any correspondence between the 
two Europeans, by way of Uganda, was a perfect bug- 
bear to Kabrega. Naturally cruel and suspicious, he 
was ever working himself into such a temper of rage 
and alarm as to render Casati's position very critical. 
And now the intelligence of the approach of an armed 
troop from the west, which to his mind must threaten 
Unyoro, gave the finishing touch to his state of wrath, 
and almost cost the white resident his life. 

It was while Stanley was erecting Fort Bodo (on 
the 9th of the preceding January) , after his first visit 
to the lake, that Kabrega treacherously caused Casati 
to be arrested, bound with cords, driven on from vil- 
lage to village, and finally sent to the domains of the 
chief Kokora, who had instructions to put him to 
death. Fortunately, the prisoner succeeded in mak- 
ing his escape, and for eight days wandered, abso- 
lutely destitute, along the eastern margin of the lake. 
Chancing to find a boat amongst the reeds on the 
water-side, he sent it off by one of his servants to 
Emin, who at that time was at Tunguru on the op- 
posite shore. A few days later Emin arrived and 
took his recovered friend on board the Khedive; thus, 
when they together met Stanley at Kavalli, they had 
only been re-united for a few weeks after their long 
and anxious separation. 

Emin's armed force consisted of about 1400 soldiers, 
forming two battalions. The first of these, number- 
teg about 750 men, was divided into seven detach- 



IN COUNCIL. 165 

merits, occupying the stations of Dufile, Khor-Aju, 
Lahore, Mnggi, Kiri, Bedden, and Rejaf ; the second, 
consisting of 640 men, was divided into five detach- 
ments, in garrison at Wadelai, Tvmguru, and Mswa. 
In the interior, west of the Nile, he had three more 
outposts, making in all thirteen stations, extending 
along the Nile and the Nyanza for a distance of more 
than 200 miles. Around these stations fields of ma- 
nioc, maize, beans, and sorghum had been cultivated, 
and there were herds containing some thousand heads 
of cattle. 

Asked as to whether he was prepared to quit the 
country, Emin hesitated. u The Egyptians," he said, 
" are very willing to leave. There are of these about 
100 men, besides their women and children. Even if I 
stayed here, I should be glad to be rid of them, be- 
cause they undermine my authority, and nullify all 
my endeavours to retreat. When I informed them 
that Khartoum had fallen, and Gordon Pasha was 
slain, they always told the Nubians that it was a con- 
cocted story, and that some day we should see the 
steamers ascend the river for their relief. But of the 
regulars who compose the 1st and 2nd battalions, I 
am extremely doubtful : they have led such a free and 
happy life here that they would demur at leaving a 
country where they have enjoyed luxuries they cannot 
command in Egypt." 

In fact from the time that Stanley arrived Emin 
never seemed to know what course to take. From his 
hesitation it might appear that his position was not al- 
together so secure as in Europe it was generally be- 
lieved to be. He wished to take counsel with his of- 
ficers, to tell his troops exactly how matters stood, 
and to make them aware of this arrival of the relief 
expedition. In short, he asked for time in which he 
might make up his mind. It was agreed that this time 
for deliberation should be conceded. Stanley left Mr. 
Jephson with a guard of thirteen Soudanese, and sent 
a message to be communicated to Emm's troops. 
After tins Emin and Mr. Jephson were to proceed and 
pay a visit to Fort Bodo, bringing with them, on their 
return to the lake, Messrs. Stairs and Nelson, with 
the men that had been left under their charge. 

Meanwhile Stanley himself, with the rest of the 



166 THE RELIEF OE THE REAR-GUARD* 

caravan, and about 100 Madi porters, with which he 
had been supplied by Emm, was to set out to meet his 
large contingent in the rear. 

Stanley and Em in had been together for twenty-five 
days when the former once more betook himself to the 
weary task of making his way through the same in- 
terminable forest where so recently he had endured 
sickness, peril, and privation. But he had given his 
word to Major Barttelot that he would go to meet him, 
and go he would. 



CHAPTER XYI. 

THE RELIEF OF THE REAR-GUARD. 

Major Barttelot— The situation at the Yambuya camp — Arrival of Tippoo 
Tib's porters — Banalya — Assassination of Major Barttelot — Death of Mr. 
Jameson — Arrival of Stanley at Banalya — Stanley's letter to Tippoo Tib 
— On the march again — Famine — A starvation camp — At Fort Bodo — Ar- 
rival at the lake — Disastrous tidings. 

Major Edmund Barttelot, to whom Stanley had 
entrusted the command of his rear-caravan, was a 
young officer, who, in the expedition to the Soudan 
under Lord Wolseley, was in charge of a camel-corps 
of 1000 Somalis from Aden to Abu-Klea. Through- 
out the campaign the major distinguished himself by 
energy and courage. 

But in order to succeed in an unknown land like the 
Congo, and in an undertaking so exceptionally diffi- 
cult as the conduct of the relief expedition, something 
more than military ardour was requisite. It is neces- 
sary to have foresight and patience, .and beyond all it 
is indispensable to have tact and forbearance in deal- 
ing with the natives. And in these latter qualities the 
major unfortunately seems to have been deficient. 

The sojourn of the rear-column at the Yambuya 
camp forms the most lamentable chapter in the his- 
tory of the expedition. 

When he started from Yambuya, Stanley had left 
with the major four Europeans, Messrs. Rose Troup, 
Ward, Jameson, and Bonny, and 257 men, mixed 
Soudanese and Zanzibaris. According to instructions 
Barttelot was to remain at Yambuya until the arrival 
ol' the steamers from Stanley Pool, which would bring 



WAITING FOR PORTERS. 167 

up all the men and the goods that had been left at Leo- 
poldville and Bolobo. Then, provided that the con- 
tingent of porters promised by Tippoo Tib had also 
arrived, the whole column was to set out on their 
march ; or even if the porters were delayed and were 
late in coming, the major might, if he thought it 
advisable, break up the camp and start without them, 
following on in the track of Stanley, who hacj prom- 
ised to come back and meet him. 

As events turned out, the porters did not arrive; 
the major, however, continued to expect their appear- 
ance, and waited on at Yambuya for nearly a year. 

It was a year of indescribable misery. The dis- 
comforts of the camp, the dearth of provisions, the 
maintenance of 257 men almost exclusively on the 
produce of a field of manioc, the misunderstanding 
between the officer in command and his own men oh 
the one hand, and on the other, alike with the natives 
around, and with the Arabs in the remoter settle- 
ments, the distrust and dislike engendered by the 
major's severity and lack of sympathy, all combined 
to render the situation very painful. Sickness broke 
out in the camp, and the mortality was frightful. 
Decimated by fever, dysentery, and mental as well as 
bodily suffering, the contingent was gradually reduced 
to 145 men, little more than half its original number. 
It must seem little short of a miracle that not one of 
the Europeans succumbed to the miseries that they 
were called to endure. It was the opinion of full 
many of those who were eye-witnesses of this gloomy 
episode, that Major Barttelot was not at all equal to 
the large responsibility that had been imposed upon 
him. Moreover, it is obvious that there was far from 
a good understanding between him and his European 
associates, and altogether their relations, both per- 
sonal and official, were very strained. 

Two Government steamers visited the camp in May, 
and found its aspect very miserable, presenting a 
striking contrast to an Arab encampment that was 
settled a little higher up the river. The Europeans 
were sick and dispirited, quartered in comfortless 
huts, while their Arab neighbours were in every way 
thriving, lively, and well-ordered ; not living in hoy- 



168 THE RELIEF OF THE REAR-GUARD. 

els, but in clay houses provided with verandahs, to 
which the natives resorted to barter their goods. 

No doubt, it must be conceded, Major Barttelot's 
difficulties were excessively great and trying ; but if, 
without prolonging his stay so unfortunately, he had 
advanced upon the track of the van column, and so 
had reached the lake or Fort Bodo in time to prevent 
Stanley losing seven months in coming back to seek 
him, who can say whether the subsequent events on 
the Nile and all the disastrous consequences that en- 
sued might not have been averted ? 

The porters for whom Tippoo Tib had made the 
contract put in an appearance on the 4tb of June. 
They had been engaged with difficulty, the majority be- 
ing collected from the Manyema district and brought 
from Nyangwe to Yambuya by Mr. Jameson, who 
had been to the Upper Lualaba to take part in the 
recruiting. 

Some days were occupied in the organisation of the 
caravan, but it was ultimately ready to start. It 
consisted of 25 Soudanese, 125 Zanzibaris, and the 
400 porters that had just arrived. Major Barttelot 
was the recognised leader, having the assistance of 
Messrs. Bonny and Jameson. The services of Mr. 
Rose Troup were lost, as his health had failed, and 
he had been obliged to return to the coast, whither 
Mr. Ward had already preceded him, because, in the 
absence of all communication from Stanley, it was 
thought proper to telegraph to London and describe 
the condition of the column thus left in the rear. 

And now that the day had come on which they 
should set out, the question might well be asked what 
should be the fate of those who, almost destitute of 
provisions, were to be conducted through the most 
terrible of unknown lands by a young and inexpe- 
rienced officer who had failed to secure the confidence 
either of his own personal associates or of the negro 
soldiers under him ? 

Some bickerings and squabbling had already broken 
out, and Captain Van Gele, who had been at Yambuya 
only a few days previously, had stated that if it had not 
been for the presence and authority of Tippoo Tib, an 
outburst of mutiny would have been inevitable. The 



START OF THE REAR-GUARD. 169 

crisis, however, was not long to be deferred ; the fatal 
issue was close at hand. 

It was at half-past seven on the morning of June 
11th that the expedition effected its start. Some pre- 
liminary difficulties having been overcome, Major 
Barttelot temporarily handed over the supervision of 
the column to Mr. Bonny, so as to allow himself an 
opportunity of going to the Falls to take counsel with 
the Europeans and to see Tippoo Tib. Resuming the 
route to the Aruwimi, he re-formed his caravan at an 
encampment near the village of Banalya on the 18th 
of July. 

The evening of his arrival the camp was en fete. 
The porters were shouting, singing, and dancing ac- 
cording to their habit when they are on the march. 
Barttelot, disliking the uproar, gave orders for imme- 
diate silence, and for the time his orders were obeyed ; 
but about 4 a.m. the boisterous merriment broke out 
again, exuberant as ever. Furious that his directions 
should be thus set at defiance, the major rose and left 
his tent, and notwithstanding the remonstrances of 
Mr. Bonny, proceeded to the quarters of the bearers. 
A woman was singing and beating a drum in front of 
one of the huts ; he spoke angrily to her, and threat- 
ened her with punishment. In another moment a shot 
was fired and the major fell dead. 

It was the woman's husband, a Mairyema named 
Sanga, who had done the fatal act. He had resented 
the vengeance that was threatened to his wife, and 
raising his gun he killed the white chief upon the spot. 

Hearing the report, Mr. Bonny rushed from his tent 
to find the camp all in commotion, and the porters 
flying in every direction and shrieking aloud: " The 
white man is dead ! the white man is dead ! " 

At the outset of the caravan Captain Vankerkhoven, 
the Commissioner of the Bangala district, as he wit- 
nessed its departure, had expressed his misgivings 
about it. "I do not believe in its success," he sakl ; 
" its leader has no tact, and no patience with the ne- 
groes." And, indeed, it might almost seem as though 
the major had brought his own fate upon himself, as 
it is universally known that the negro, when once 
aroused to anger, is very revengeful. 

But this was only the beginning of the misfortunes 



170 THE RELIEF OF THE REAR-GUARD. 

that befell the expedition ; it had to bewail the loss of 
all its leaders in succession except one. 

After doing his best to assist Mr. Bonny in calming 
the disorder in the camp that prevailed as the conse 
quence of Major Barttelot's assassination, Mr. Jame- 
son had to leave for Stanley Falls for the purpose of 
doing what he could to fill up the deficiency in num- 
bers made by the repeated desertions of the men. It 
had been his intention, as soon as he could rejoin Mr. 
Bonny, to proceed with him along the route to the 
Nyanza, but having been informed at the Falls that 
Mr. Ward was at Bangala, retracing his way from the 
coast, he thought it desirable to go and meet him that 
they might consult together. Accordingly he took his 
passage on board a large native boat. 

He had overtaxed his strength. Shortly before 
reaching the confluence of the Lomami, he had a vio- 
lent attack of fever, and on the 16th of August when 
he arrived at Bangala, he was already in a dying state. 
Surviving only till the following day, he died without 
having been able to make the Europeans at the station 
understand what had been the object of his coming. 

On that very date of Mr. Jameson's death, Mr. 
Bonny, the solitary European now left to supervise 
the camp, was standing outside his hut, expecting 
Jameson's arrival with recruits, when he caught sight 
of a caravan, marching on in excellent order, and 
headed by a white man. It did not take long to recog- 
nise that here was Stanley redeeming his word, and 
come back from the Nyanza to bring up the contingent 
from the rear. 

"Welcome, Bonny, welcome! but where is the 
major?" 

"Major Barttelot is dead, sir. Skot a month ago 
by the Many em a." 

" Good God ! And where is Mr. Jameson ?" 

" He has gone to Stanley Falls to try and get more 
men from Tippoo Tib." 

" And Troup, where is he?" 

"Mr. Troup has gone home, sir, invalided." 

" Hem ! hem ! and where is Ward?" 

" Mr. Ward is in Bangala." 

"Heavens alive ! then you are the only one here," 

" Yes, sir." 



Stanley's march to banalya. 171 

Very successfully had Stanley accomplished his jour- 
ney back from Lake Nyanza to Banalya in eighty-two 
days, experiencing a loss of only three of his follow- 
ers. He had left the lake on the 25th of May, and 
reached Fort Bodo in fourteen days. Captain Nelson 
and Lieutenant Stairs were there, and everything under 
their charge was satisf actory ; nearly ten acres of land 
were under cultivation, and one crop of Indian corn 
had been harvested and was in the granaries. Dr. 
Parke was now left to act as medical attendant at the 
garrison, which only reckoned fifty-nine rifles. 

It was by his deliberate choice that Stanley for his 
return down the river had left himself without any of 
his officers ; it was his object not to be encumbered 
with the baggage which a retinue of European associ- 
ates would entail, while he knew that every available 
porter would be wanted to carry up the large amount 
of stores that had been reserved for Barttelot to convey. 

On the 24th of June he reached Kilonga-Longa's, 
and on the 4th of Jury arrived at Ugarrowwa's. This 
latter station he found deserted, as L^garrowwa, having 
got together as much ivory as he could, had started 
clow r n the river with a flotilla of fifty-seven canoes, 
which Stanley overtook on the 10th of August. 

At Banalya, a melancholy surprise awaited him. 
Out of the 257 that he had left a year ago there were 
only seventy-one remaining, and of these not many 
more than fifty seemed fit for service. His own suf- 
ferings that he had endured with the advanced cara- 
van had been sad and serious enough, but they ap- 
peared slight in comparison with the privation and 
mortality that had prevailed in Major Barttelot's col- 
umn. At present all his own men were in renovated 
and even robust health, but here the majority of the 
survivors from the Yambuya camp were reduced to a 
feeble and wretched condition. 

After arriving at Banalya, Stanley lost no time in 
communicating with Europe. He sent off a messen- 
ger with letters to be forwarded from the Falls, and 
likewise wrote to Tippoo Tib in the following terms : — 

"Boma of Banalya (Murenia), August 11th. 

" To the Sheikh Hamed Ben Mahomed, from iiis 
good friend Henry Stanley. 



172 THE RELIEF OF THE REAR-GUARD. 

" Many salaams to you. I hope you are in good 
health as I am, and that you have remained in good 
health since I left the Congo. I have many things to 
say to you, but I hope I shall see you face to face 
before many days. I reached tins place this morning 
with 130 Wangwana, and three soldiers and sixty-six 
natives belonging to Emin Pasha. This is now the 
eighty-second day since we left Emin Pasha on the 
Nyanza, and we have only lost three men all the 
way. Two of them were drowned and the other ran 
away. I found the white men whom I was looking 
for. Emin Pasha was quite well, and the other white 
man, Casati, was quite well also. Emin has ivory in 
abundance, cattle by thousands, and sheep, goats, 
fowls, and food of all kinds. We found him to be a 
very good and kind man. He gave numbers of things 
to all our white and black men, and his liberality 
could not be exceeded. His soldiers blessed our black 
men for their kindness in coming so far to show them 
the way, and many of them were ready to follow me at 
once out of the country. But I asked them to stay 
quiet a few months that I might go back and fetch the 
other men and goods that I had left at Yambuya, and 
they prayed to God that He would give me the strength 
to finish my work. May their prayer be heard ! And 
now, my friend, what are you going to do? We have 
gone the road twice over. We know where it is bad and 
where it is good ; where there is plenty of food and 
where there is none ; where all the camps are, and 
where we shall sleep and rest. I am waiting to hear 
your words. If you go with me it is well. If you do 
not go it is well. I leave it to you. 

" I will stay here ten days, and then I go on slowly. 
I move from here to a big island two hours' march 
from here, and above this place there are plenty of 
houses and plenty of food for the men. Whatever 
you have to say to me, my ears will be open with a 
good heart, as it has always been towards you. There- 
fore, if you come, come, quickly ; for on the eleventh 
morning from this I shall move on. All my white 
men are well, but I left them all behind, except my 
servant William, who is with me. 

(Signed) ' ' Stanley." 



HARDSHIPS. 173 

In reply to this letter Tippoo Tib sent a message 
explaining that he must decline the invitation to join 
Stanley on account of the scarcity of porters at his 
command ; whereupon Stanley proceeded to reorgan- 
ise his company, and made his start to rejoin Emin. 
The caravan, including his own men, now amounted 
to nearly 350 in all. Mr. Bonuy accompanied the 
expedition, and the entire remaining lot of goods was 
taken on. It was now the 1st of September. 

This was the beginning of a journey of more than 
four months' duration, in which the route once more 
lay through the impenetrable forests and the devas- 
tated wildernesses of which the dwarf people were the 
only tenants. It was a period which brought sad and 
terrible hardships. 

For two months, until the caravan arrived at the 
confluence of the Ihuru, all may be said to have gone 
fairly well, except for an outbreak of small-pox which 
was fatal to many of the native porters. Happily the 
Zanzibaris escaped the scourge, an immunity owing 
no doubt to their having been vaccinated on board the 
Madura on their way from Zanzibar to the Cape. 

Beyond the Ihuru, however, the condition of things 
went from bad to worse. Across the deserts by the 
right bank of the Aruwimi the famine became intense. 
Weeks of privation followed, and on the 9th of Decem- 
ber Stanley resolved to encamp in a vast forest, and 
to despatch a foraging party to make their way to a 
populous centre, which according to his map he esti- 
mated would be found at no great distance. Day af- 
ter day passed by, while the expediton, suffering the 
agonies of hunger, watched for the return of the for- 
agers. Stanley has given a description of the trying 
time to the following effect : — 

u Never in all my African experience had I been 
nearer absolute starvation. On the fifth day, after 
giving out all the flour there was in camp, and killing 
the only goat that had been reserved, I was obliged to 
open the cases of the officers' provisions, which hith- 
erto had been untouchedo In the afternoon a boy died, 
and the condition of nearly all the rest was most dis- 
heartening ; some could not stand upright, falling 
down as soon as they tried to rise. The spectacle 
that I had before my eyes thus constantly so acted on 



174 THE RELIEF OF THE REAR-GUARD. 

my nerves that I ended by sympathising with it, not 
only morally but physically, just as though weakness 
were contagious. 

" A Madi porter died before night; the last of our 
Somalis gave signs of collapse, and the few Soudanese 
who were with us were scarce able to move. 

" The morning of the sixth day dawned. We made 
our broth as usual, abundance of water, a pot of but- 
ter, a pot of condensed milk, and a cupful of flour for 
130 people ! Matters had come to a critical condition. 

" Mr. Bonny and the chiefs were called together for 
a consultation, and surmises of every conceivable kind 
were put forward as to what could account for the 
prolonged absence of the party sent out to forage. 
Finally, Mr. Bonny volunteered to stay at the en- 
campment with ten men, on condition that I would 
leave him provisions for ten days. 

" This did not seem much ; it could hardly be diffi- 
cult to supply sufficient gruel to keep ten men alive 
for ten days ; but then there were all the sick and all 
the enfeebled who would be unable to keep moving, 
and must necessarily die of exhaustion and hunger un- 
less I had good luck. Nevertheless, I accepted Mr. 
Bonny's offer, and a stone of milk, butter, flour, and 
biscuit was prepared and handed over for his use." 

In the afternoon of the seventh day a general in- 
spection was made ; it showed that there were forty- 
three individuals who were absolutely incapable of 
following Stanley, and who must be left to the charge 
of Mr. Bonny and his ten men. Sadi, the chief of the 
Manyema, abandoned fourteen of his people to their 
fate; Kibbo-Bora, another chief, left his brother ; a 
third chief, Fundi, left one of his wives and a little 
boy. The remaining twenty-six were his own people. 
The condition of all these seemed desperate, and there 
was hardly a ray of hope for them unless food could 
be brought to them within the next twenty-four hours. 

" In a cheery tone, though my heart was never 
heavier, I told the forty-three hunger-bitten people 
that I was going back to hunt up the missing men. 
Probably I should meet them on the road, but if I did 
they would be driven on the run with food to them. 
We travelled nine miles that afternoon, having passed 
several dead people on the road ; and early on the 



RETURN TO FORT I 0. 175 

eighth day of their absence from camp, met them 
marching in an easy fashion ; but when we were met 
the pace was altered to a quick step, so that in twenty- 
six hours after leaving Starvation Camp, we were back 
with a cheery abundance around, gruel and porridge 
boiling, bananas boiling, plantains roasting, and some 
meat simmering in pots for soup. 

"Twenty-one persons altogether succumbed in this 
dreadful camp." 

The Ihuru was crossed on the 18th of December, 
and on the next day the caravan having crossed the 
forest, regardless of paths, fortunately found itself 
at the west angle of the Fort Bodo plantations. It 
was in some anxiety that Stanley arrived there. What 
tidings would he get? Would his officers still be 
there? Had Emin and Jephson given any signs of 
life? Had their arrival been announced? 

Fort Bodo was in the same condition in which he 
had left it seven months previously. Captain Nelson, 
Lieutenant Stairs, and Dr. Parke were all there, and 
were all well, having with them fifty-one soldiers out 
of the fifty-nine who had been left in their charge. 

Meanwhile of Emin and Jephson there were no tid- 
ings ; no rumours whatever about them had reached 
the Fort. 

What could this prolonged silence portend? What 
could have transpired either at the Lake or at Wadelai 
to detain Jephson, who was a man of determined en- 
ergy, and who had given his word to come back? 

The situation appeared to admit of no delay, and it 
was resolved that the Fort must be abandoned forth- 
with. On the 23rd of December, therefore, the unit- 
ed expedition set out on its march, and taking its 
eastward course, proceeded to quarters in Mazamboni's 
territory, where it encamped on the Oth of January. 

Here the camp was left in the care of Messrs. 
Stairs, Nelson, and Parke, Stanley himself, full of 
gloomy forebodings, having determined at once to 
hasten forward to the Lake, taking with him Mr. 
Bonny and a small detachment of men. On his ar- 
rival the Bakumu this time gave him a hearty wel- 
come, demonstrating their goodwill by bringing in 
food in abundance, by assisting in building the huts 



176 THE RELIEF OF THE REAR-GUARD. 

for the night-camp, and generally by rendering what- 
ever help they could. 

Still no news was to be learnt from the Nyanza. 
Where could Emin and Jephson be ? 

And here it may be well to pause a moment and 
survey the task that had been accomplished by the 
man of amazing energy, who with sinews as of steel, 
had left Yambuya in June 1887, and had now re- 
turned for the third time to the Lake Albert Nyanza 
in January 1889. 

A wonderful record is the story of his marches ; the 
first journey from Yambuya to the Lake, 171 days; 
the second journey from the Lake to Fort Bodo, 22 
days ; the third journey from the Fort to the Lake, 
20 days ; the fourth journey from the Lake to Banaiya, 
82 clays ; and then this fifth journey from Banaiya 
back to the Lake, 107 days, making a total of 402 
days. 

Thus it is seen how for more than thirteen months 
out of a year and a half the leader was on the con- 
stant move, making his way through virgin forests 
that had neither road nor track ; forcing his path 
through tangled brushwood and over rushing torrents ; 
carrying in his train many thousands of pounds'- 
weight of goods, piovisions, and ammunition ; har- 
assed over and over again by warlike and suspicious 
savages ; uncertain as to the means of providing 
food for his hundreds of followers ; exposed to an 
unhealthy atmosphere ; and personally suffering the 
pangs of hunger and privation. Such was the man 
who in spite of climate, in spite of hostilities, in spite 
of famine, in spite of sickness, never swerved from 
his line of duty and devotion, but faced all difficul- 
ties, resolved to overcome them till his work was 
done. "Who shall say that the age of knight-errantry 
has passed away? Other ages have had their Xeno- 
phon, Godfrey de Bouillon, Marco Polo, Columbus, 
Vasco, and Magellan ; the nineteenth century can boast 
of Stanley. The race of heroes is not yet extinct. 

On January 16th, the caravan arrived at the village 
of Oaviras, at no great distance from the Lake, where 
some messengers sent by Kavalli handed Stanley a 



REVOLT OF THE EGYPTIAN TROOPS. 177 

packet of letters. Stanley read them eagerly, hut 
with profound amazement at the disastrous intelli- 
gence they contained. The troops of the Equatorial 
province had mutinied on the 18th of August ; Emin 
and Jephson had been made prisoners ; the Mahdists, 
making a fresh attack in October, had routed the 
Egyptian force, had taken Rejaf, Kiri, and Labore, 
and were now only awaiting reinforcements to renew 
their advance. 

It looked as if all were lost. 

As Wolseley had arrived at Khartoum too late to 
save Gordon, it seemed as though Stanley had reached 
the Nyanza too late to rescue Emin. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

REVOLT OF THE EGYPTIAN TROOPS. 

The situation in the Equatorial province -First mutiny of the troops — Emin 
at Mswa — Revolt of the garrison at Labore — Arrest and imprisonment of 
Emin and Jephson — Arrival of the Mahdists at Lado — Dervish ambassa- 
dors at Dufile — Message from Omar Saleh — Capture of Rejaf — Revolt of 
the Bari — Anarchy — Second battle at Rejaf — Emin and Jephson at liberty 
— Siege of Dufile — Defeat of the Mahdists — Emin at Tunguru. 

In realising the events that occurred in the province 
of the Equator from the time that Stanley left Lake 
Albert in May 1888 to the date of his return in the 
following January, it is requisite to bear in mind what 
must have been the true relation subsisting between 
1500 armed and semi-barbarous mercenaries and the 
solitary European, devoted by taste and education to 
the study of science, and only placed by adventitious 
circumstances in the position of a military governor. 
It wns a position in which he was supported by no 
authority except the prestige of his nationality and 
official rank ; and for four years he had been unaided 
and uncheered by any communication with the civilised 
world. Little by little his authority declined, and 
with it declined also the consciousness of stability on 
the part of the man who thus saw years pass on with- 
out bringing relief to a situation which could hardly 
do otherwise than continually become more difficult, 
embarrassing, and critical. 



178 DISAFFECTION OF emusTs troops. 

Possibly some stringent and severe measures adopted 
at first, and the enforcement of capital sentence in 
several cases, might have nipped the first signs of mu- 
tiny in the bud, and have obviated their reappearance. 
But it should be asked, was it to be expected of 
Sclmitzer, the physician and the botanist, any more 
than of Livingstone, the conciliating missionary, that 
he should exhibit the stern energy; and Hhe sharp de- 
cision of a Stanley or a Wissman? 

As a matter of fact, it is plain that for a consider- 
able period Emin Pasha had had little beyond a sem- 
blance of power. Whenever he required anything of 
consequence to be carried out, he could not simply 
issue an order, he had to submit a request to his Egyp- 
tian and Soudanese officers that what he desired should 
be done. These officers, as a rule, were unfortunately 
nearly all of that wily and hypocritical class who had 
caused so much misery and disappointment to Baker 
and Gordon ; they were such as had recently betrayed 
Khartoum and massacred its valiant defender. 

The position of things in the province had become 
worse than dubious, and an outbreak sooner or later 
was inevitable. The arrival of the relief expedition 
precipitated the event. 

Report was circulated among the troops that an 
armed force was close at hand, coming from the south, 
and that it was the object of the strangers to carry 
Emin Pasha off by an unknown route. In consequence 
of this, 190 soldiers at D utile, instigated by their offi- 
cers, entered into a compact that they would at once 
seize his person, and thus prevent his leaving their 
country, if he were to leave it at all, by any other 
route than the northern route, which they knew, and 
by which they had come. 

Emin was made aware of this plot by his faithful 
adherent Major Awach, and by some of the officers of 
the second battalion, at whose suggestion he left 
Wadelai, retreating to Mswa, one of the other settle- 
ments on the Lake. Mswa at that time was under the 
command of Shukri-Aga, a brave and intelligent offi- 
cer, who had been promoted to his present rank in 
recognition of the services he had rendered in the 
campaign against the Mahdists of Karam-Allah in 
1884. 



REVOLT OF THE EGYPTIAN TROOPS. 179 

When a detachment of the first battalion arrived at 
Wadelai and learnt that the officers of the second 
battalion had advised Emin to withdraw, there was a 
vehement outbreak of wrath. The Commandant at 
Wadelai was seized and beaten with the kurbatch ; 
the rebel soldiers, moreover, carrying off with them to 
Dufile a number of people as hostages. 

This had been the actual state of things at the 
time when Stanley first arrived with his expedition at 
the margin of Lake Albert ; but Emin does not appear 
to have disclosed to Stanley what was the extremity 
to which matters were reduced. Very likely, in the 
kindness of his disposition, he was indulging the hope 
that the arrival of the Europeans would reassure his 
followers, and would be effectual in the restoration of 
order, so that the mutinous soldiers would be brought 
back to their allegiance. As he wrote to Stanley : 
" The first battalion in the northern garrisons has al- 
ways been extremely averse to any proposal of retreat 
to the south. But now that you have come, and as 
several of the soldiers remember seeing you at JMtesa's 
court when they were there with M. Linant de Belle- 
fond in 1876, and as others know you personally, and 
still more by hearsay, it is quite probable that they 
may change their minds. They must now be con- 
vinced that there is another w T ay to Egypt besides 
that to the north, because they will see that you have 
succeeded in getting here by it." 

But Emin had not taken account of the moral mal- 
ady which was poisoning the minds of such a large 
proportion of the Egpytians in the Soudan army ; he 
was not allowing for treason. 

Whilst, in the middle of August, Emin Pasha and 
Mr. Jephson were retiring along the Nile from Dufile* 
to Eejaf, the troops of the first battalion were being 
agitated into revolt by one of their officers named 
Abdul Vaal Effendi. He assured them that Stanley 
had a commission from the English Government to 
carry off all the Egyptians and Soudanese in the prov- 
ince, with their wives and children, to Zanzibar, and 
that there they would be subject to punishment and 
reduced to slavery by the Christians. In such a land, 
where ignorance and fanaticism were universal, words 



180 APPROACH OF THE MAHDISTSo 

like these acted as a train of gunpowder. There was 
mutiny at once. 

It would appear to have been on the 18th of Au- 
gust, one day after Stanley's reaching Banalya, where 
his rear-caravan had been in camp, that Emm Pasha 
and Mr. Jephson were arrested and were being car- 
ried as prisoners to Dufile. n»* 

The leaders of the insurrection next summoned 
the officers to a divan, where all those who ventured 
to oppose the movement were so insulted and abused 
that for their own personal safety they were com- 
pelled to acquiesce. At the meeting the Pasha was 
formally deposed, and all the officers who sympathised 
with him were deprived of their commissions. 

After all the revolution was the act of hardly more 
than half-a-dozen disaffected Egyptians, who by in- 
timidation succeeded in rallying around them a cer- 
tain number of officers and others. The soldiers, with 
the exception of those at Lahore, where the flame of 
insurrection was first ignited, took no part in the 
original outbreak, and only yielded to the pressure 
put upon them by their leaders. Indeed, it was to 
the fidelity of the troops that Emm owed his life ; 
they resolutely maintained that no one should lay vio- 
lent hands upon the governor, and to the utmost of 
their power withstood his being removed to Rejaf , the 
station on the extreme north. 

Only a slight modification of affairs ensued during 
the following month of October. Mr. Jephson re- 
gained his liberty, but on the condition that he should 
not leave Dufile ; the Pasha was still kept in chains 
and might expect day by day to receive sentence of 
death. 

Then came the sudden and startling intelligence 
thai; a Mahdist army, about 1500 strong, under the 
command of Omar Saieh, had made its appearance 
before Lado. The troops had been brought from 
Khartoum in three steamers and nine boats, and had 
made their encampment upon the site of the now 
abandoned station. 

A few days later three dervishes arrived at Dufile 
and demanded an audience of the governor of the 
piovrnce They were the hearers of a long written 



REVOLT OF THE EGYPTIAN TROOPS. 181 

message, of which the substance is given in the sub- 
joined abbreviation :— 

"From the servant of God, Omar Saleh, officer of 
the Mahdi, to whom we give referential greetings. 

"To the honoured Mahomed Emin, Mudir of 
Hatalastiva. 

"May God lead him in the paths of His gifts. 
Amen. 

" After greeting you, I would remind you that the 
world is a house of change and decay, and everything 
in it must one day perish. God is the Master of all 
His creatures. 

" We are of the army of God. With our army is 
victory. Victory is to the believers. God help the 
Faithful. It is written in the Koran. 

"The whole country is subject to the prophet, 
Hicks, Stewart, Gordon, all are dead. Make peace 
with the Mahdi. 

"We have landed here with an army of the de- 
fenders of the faith. It is your duty to submit. Sub- 
mit and be assured of a free pardon, of protection for 
your children and your property, and of the blessing 
of God. We bid you come and join us. 

"And now be of good cheer and do not delay. I 
have said enough for one whose intelligence is bright 
as yours. Come to me and I will honour you. Be- 
come a true believer as the master wishes. 

"May God bless and assist you in all you do. 
Salaam." 

The dervishes waited for a reply ; the only answer 
that was vouchsafed was to seize the\i«i amd put them 
all to death. 

Preparations were at once made £#r resistance. 

Within a few days the Mahdists had assaulted the 
station at Rejaf, killing five Egyptian officers, and a 
considerable number of soldiers. All the provisions 
as well as the ammunition fell into their hands. Si- 
multaneously with the news of this disaster came the 
intelligence that the Bari, who had long been restless 
under the Egyptian rule, had revolted and joined the 
invaders. 

From all the stations along the river there was 
forthwith a general stampede. The garrisons of Bed- 
den, Kiri, and Muggi fled with their wives, children-. 



182 LETTER FROM MR. JEPHSON. 

and servants to Lahore, forsaking their posts and all 
the goods which they contained. Consternation reigned 
supreme. Inevitably the position of Em in and Jeph- 
son, who were still held captive by the rebels, was 
becoming more and more perilous. 

On the 7th of November, Jephson wrote from 
Dufile to Stanley, urging the necessity of there being 
no loss of time. "Our position here," he said, "is 
extremely unpleasant ; for three months everything 
has been chaos and confusion ; half-a-dozen conflict- 
ing orders are given every day, and no one obeys. 
The rebel officers are absolutely incapable of control- 
ling the soldiers." He proceeded to explain that the 
officers were now very much alarmed at what had hap- 
pened, that they were reckoning very much on Stan- 
ley's return to the Lake, and that he believed the great 
majority were quite ready to quit the province with 
him. u As for Emin and myself," he added, " we are 
like rats in a trap. They will neither let us net or re- 
tire. Had this rebellion not happened, the Pasha 
would at least for a time have been able to hold the 
Mahdists in check ; but as it is he is powerless to 
act." " Unless," he says finally, u you come prompt- 
ly, I fear you will come too late, and that our fate 
will be that of the other defenders of the Soudan gar- 
risons. Should we not succeed in getting out of the 
country, please remember me to all friends." 

But sad to relate, on that very date when Mr. Jeph- 
son was writing to Stanley that he must come soon, 
Stanley and Mr. Bonny had hardly reached the con- 
fluence of the Ihuru. They were some hundreds of 
miles away, and had to push along for more than two 
months before they could rea.ch the Lake. The pros- 
pects of Emin and his partner in trouble were indeed 
becoming desperate. 

Worse still did the look-out grow. The Egyptians, 
in an attempt to get Rejaf back from the Mahdists, 
were repulsed with heavy loss, and six of their leaders 
were killed ; but the defeat had one happy result ; it 
brought about Emin's liberation from prison. 

Mr. Jephson, writing on November 24th from Wade- 
lai, thus describes the circumstances: "Among the 
officers killed were some of the Pasha's worst enemies. 
The soldiers in all the stations were so panic-stricken, 



REVOLT OF THE EGYPTIAN TROOPS. 183 

and angry at what had happened that they declared 
they would not attempt to fight unless the Pasha was 
set at liberty ; so the rebel officers were obliged to 
free him, and sent us to Wadelai, where he is free to 
do as he pleases, but at present he has not resumed 
his authority in the country ; he is, I believe, by no 
means anxious to do so. 

" Our danger, as far as the Mahdists are concerned, 
is, of course, increased by this last defeat, but our 
position is in one way better now, for we are further 
removed from them, 2nd we have now the option of 
retiring if we please, which we had not before while 
we were prisoners. We hear that the Mahdists have 
sent steamers down to Khartoum for reinforcements ; 
if so, they cannot be up here for another six weeks. 
If they come up here with reinforcements it will be all 
up with us, for the soldiers will never stand against 
them, and it will be a mere walk over. 

" Every one is anxiously looking for your arrival, 
for the coming of the Mahdists has completely cowed 
them." 

Meanwhile the Mahdists were making rapid advan- 
ces. After placing their head-quarters at Rejaf, 
'which the Egyptian troops had failed to recover, they 
had successively occupied Bedden, Kiri, Muggi, La- 
bore, and Khor-Aju. On November 25th they ap- 
peared before D utile- and blockaded it for four days. 
The station, however, was in a good state of defence, 
having 500 men under the command of. Emin's lieu- 
tenant, Selim Bey. The garrison made a successful 
sortie, and the besiegers were repulsed, leaving no less 
than 250 dead upon the field. They then fell back 
upon Rejaf, and entrenched themselves, awaiting the 
arrival of their reinforcements. 

This engagement, although it gave encouragement 
to the Egyptians, does not seem to have much im- 
proved the position of Emm, who retired to Tunguru, 
a station on a small island not far from the west shore 
of the Nyanza ; whence on the 18th of December Mr. 
Jephson wrote again to Stanley : " The Pasha is un- 
able to move hand or foot, as there is still a very 
strong party against him, and the officers are no 
longer in immediate fear of the Mahdists. 



184 ABANDONMENT OF THE SOUDAN. 

" Make your camp at Kavalli, send a letter directly 
you arrive there, and I will come to you. 

" I trust you will arrive before the Mahdists are re- 
inforced, or our case will be desperate." 

But at the time when this urgent letter was being 
written Stanley was far off. He had not yet arrived 
at Fort Bodo, which he did not reach until December 
20th. It will at once be understood that his anxiety 
was only too well founded, and that he had not been 
wrong in attributing the long silence of Emin and 
Jephson to something untoward. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

ABANDONMENT OF THE SOUDAN. 

The camp at Kavalli — Letter from Stanley to Jephson — Arrival of Jephson-— 
Emin's letter to Stanley — Meeting of Stanley and Emin — Determination 
to evacuate — Concentration at Kavalli — Council of war — Emin's hesitation 
and Casati's scruples — Egyptian attack upon the camp — Preparations for 
departure. 

When, for the second time, Stanley reached the 
Lake, on January 16th, 1889, he placed his camp, not 
as before at Nsabe on the shore, but upon a plateau 
overlooking the plain, near Kavalli's village. With 
his usual tact he at ouce succeeded in gaining the 
goodwill of the natives, who are numerous in that dis- 
trict, so that friendly relations and active trade were 
soon established between them and the members of 
the expedition. The second day after his arrival Stan- 
ley wrote to Mr. Jephson : — 

4 c Kavalli, January ISth, 1889. 

" My deak Jephson, — I now send thirty rifles and 
three of Kavalli's men down to the Lake with my let- 
ters, with urgent instructions that a canoe should set 
off, and the bearers be rewarded. . . . 

Cfc Be wise, be quick, and waste no hour of time, and 
bring Buiza and your own Soudanese with you. . . . 

;ii If the Pasha can come, send a courier on your ar- 
rival at our old camp on the Lake below here to an- 
nounce the fact, and I will send a strong detachment 
to escort hi in up to the plateau, even to cany him, if 



LETTER FROM STANLEY TO JEPHSON. 185 

he needs it. I feel too exhausted after my 1300 miles 
of travel since I parted from you last May to go down 
to the Lake again. The Pasha must have some pity 
for me. 

u Don't be alarmed or uneasy on our account; 
nothing hostile can approach us within twelve miles 
without my knowing it. I am in the thickest of a 
friendly population, and if I sound the warnote, within 
four hours I can have 2000 warriors to assist to repel 
any force disposed to violence. And if it is to be a 
war of wits, why then I am ready for the cunningest 
Arab alive. 

" I have read your letters half a dozen times, and 
my opinion of you varies with each reading. Some- 
times I fancy you are half Mahdist or Arabist, and 
then Eminist. I shall be wiser when I see you. 

" Now don't you be perverse, but obey, and let my 
order to yon be as a frontlet between the eyes, and 
all, with God's gracious help, will end well. 

" I want to help the Pasha somehow, but he must 
also help me, and credit me. If he wishes to get out 
of this trouble, I am his most devoted servant and 
friend ; but if he hesitates again I shall be plunged in 
wonder and perplexity. I could save a dozen Pashas 
if they were willing to be saved. I would go on my 
knees to implore the Pasha to be sensible in his own 
case. He is wise enough in all things else, even his 
own interest. 

"The Committee said, 'Relieve Emm Pasha with 
this ammunition. If he wishes to come out, the am- 
munition will enable him to do so ; if he elects to stay, 
it will be of service to him.' The Khedive said the 
same thing, and added, ' But if the Pasha and his of- 
ficers wish to stay, they do so on their own responsi- 
bility.' Sir Evelyn Baring said the same thing in 
clear and decided words, and here I am, after 4100 
miles of travel, with the last instalment of relief. 
Let him who is authorised to take it, take it. Come ; 
I am ready to lend him all my strength and wit to as- 
sist him. But this time there must be no hesitation, 
but positive yea or nay, and home we go. — Yours 
very sincerely, 

" Henry M. Stanley." 



ISb" ABANDONMENT OF THE SOUDAN. 

Jephson arrived at Kavalli on February 6th. Stan- 
ley wrote to Emin on the following day, and a week 
later a messenger from Nsabe brought a letter from 
the Pasha, the contents of which quite electrified the 
camp. 

" Nsabe, February 13th, 1889. 

" To Henry M. Stanley, Esq., 

Commanding the Relief Expedition, 

"Sir, — In answer to your letter of the 7th inst., 
for which I beg to tender my best thanks, I have the 
honour to inform you that yesterday, at 3 p.m., I 
arrived here with my two steamers, carrying a first lot 
of people desirous to leave this country under your 
escort. As soon as I have arranged for cover of my 
people, the steamships have to start for Mswa sta- 
tion, to bring on another lot of people awaiting trans- 
port. 

" With me there are some twelve officers anxious to 
see you, and only forty soldiers. They have come 
under my orders to request you to give them some 
time to bring their brothers — at least, such as are will- 
ing to leave — from Wadelai, and I promised them to do 
my best to assist them. Things having to some ex- 
tent now changed, you will be able to make them 
undergo whatever conditions you see fit to impose 
upon them. To arrange these I shall start from here 
with the officers for your camp, after having provided 
for the camp, and if you send carriers, I could avail 
me of some of them. 

"I hope sincerely that the great difficulties you 
have had to undergo, and the great sacrifices made by 
your expedition in its way to assist us, may be re- 
warded by a full success in bringing out my people. 
The wave of insanity which overran the country has 
subsided, and of such as are now coming with me we 
may be sure. 

" Signor Casati requests me to give his best thanks 
for your kind remembrance of him. 

" Permit me to express to you once more my cor- 
dial thanks for whatever you have done for us until 
now, and believe me to be, yours very faithfully, 

"Dr. Emin." 



EMIn's ARRIVAL AT THE CAMP. 187 

The KJiedlve and the Nyanza were now at anchor 
off Nsabe, and their crews were preparing a camp 
upon the shore. Em in landed next day, accompanied 
by Captain Casati, the physician Vitu Hassan, Selim 
Bey, the defender of Dufile, and seven other officers, 
who were a deputation from the troops of the Equa- 
torial province. The Pasha was in mufti, but the 
deputation were in uniform. They were attended by 
about sixty-five people, consisting of soldiers and ser- 
vants. The whole party mounted the slope leading 
to the plateau, and reached the camp where Stanley 
was awaiting them. 

It was an affecting meeting. No longer, as in the 
previous April, was it a question between maintaining 
a footing on the Upper Nile and making a retreat ; 
now, by the avowal of the brave but unfortunate gov- 
ernor himself, the idea of evacuation was already to 
the fore ; the first signal of retreat had already been 
given. 

In order that his force should be concentrated in the 
event of any hostile attack, Stanley had sent a mes- 
sage to the rear-guard that he had left in Mazamboni's 
country with Messrs. Stairs, Nelson, and Parke, or- 
dering them to come on at once to Kavalli, and on 
the 18th they all arrived. 

All the white men, eight in number, and the prin- 
cipal members of Emm's faithful staff, were now 
summoned to a divan to be held next day, when the 
plans for the future should be discussed. 

The evacuation of the province was definitely de- 
cided on, but it was arranged that a reasonable time 
should be allowed to enable the troops in the various 
stations to be informed of the decision, so that they 
might embark themselves and their families, and all 
who were willing to leave, on board the steamers, and 
muster at the Nsabe camp on the Lake shore. 

On the 2oth the two steamers returned from Mswa 
with a fresh detachment of refugees, and about the 
same time Emin received a despatch from Wadelai, 
stating that in the absence of Selim Bey the rebels 
had again broken out into revolt, Selim had been 
deposed from his command, and several of the rebel 
officers had been promoted to the rank of Bey. 

These tidings completely nullified any hopes that 



188 ABANDONMENT 6? THE SOUDAH. 

the Pasha might have entertained of re-establishing 
his authority, and made him determine to leave his 
own camp and join Stanley on the plateau. It was 
decided that a month would be sufficiently long to 
allow the faithful troops to rally round their chief, so 
that the final departure might take place in six weeks' 
time, that is to say, about the 10th of April. Selim 
Bey and the officers then left Kavalli in order to 
collect all the people who desired to leave for Egypt. 

Thirty days after Selim Bey's departure, a steamer 
appeared before the Nyanza camp, bringing a letter 
from that officer, and one from all the rebel officers at 
Wadelai, announcing themselves ready to make sub- 
mission to the u Envoy of the great Government," 
and requesting to be allowed to return to Egypt under 
Stanley's escort. Emm was also informed that Selim 
had already despatched one steamer full of refugees 
to Tunguru, and that since that time he had been en- 
gaged in transporting people from Dufile to Wadelai, 
which he was making his rallying point. The Pasha, 
when he imparted what he called this u encouraging" 
news to Stanley, expressed his opinion it would re- 
quire three months more to complete the concentra- 
tion of the people at Kavalli, and desired to know 
what Stanley had determined on under the new aspect 
of affairs. 

It was evident that Emin did not know how to tear 
himself away from the land where he had resided for 
eleven years, and which seems to have* a kind of fasci- 
nation for Europeans. He hesitated, too, about leav- 
ing the soldiers, who, until some foolish fancy had 
warped their reason, had always served him faithfully 
and well. He had scruples about following Stanley ; 
he seemed thereby to be breaking his promise to Gor- 
don, his venerated chief, that he would shed the very 
last drop of his blood in the Soudan in the cause of 
civilisation and progress. 

Stanley, however, was not so much enthralled by 
the fascinations of a country in which his experiences 
had been so rough, where he had run so many fatal 
risks, and where he had seen his companions die 
around him by the score. He was fully sensible of 
the import of the events that had tra aspired, and he 
represented, with much show of reason, that in the 



OFFICERS IN COUNCIL. 189 

present state of anarchy, a handful of Europeans, 
however valiant they might be, could do nothing for 
the cause of civilisation at Wadelai, which by this time 
was probably in the pow r er of encroaching Mahdists, 
mutinous soldiers, or hostile natives. 

Moreover, his mission was to rescue Emm from 
danger, and he considered that it was the Pasha's 
duty to take advantage of the deliverance that was 
offered him. As a practical man, he pr.w no good in 
a useless sacrifice. The difficulties lu;.t had to be 
overcome in persuading Emin and Casati to make their 
retreat, and the incidents attending them, may best 
be told in the explorer's own words : — 

" I summoned the officers of the expedition together 
— Lieutenant Stairs, R.E., Captain R. H. Nelson, 
Surgeon Parke, A.M.D., Mounteney Jephson, Esq., 
and Mr. William Bonny, and proposed to them in the 
Pasha's presence that they should listen to a few ex- 
planations, and then give their decision, one by one, 
according as they should be asked. 

" Gentlemen, Emin Bey has received a mail from 
Wadelai. Selim Bey, who left the post below here on 
the 26th February last, with a promise that he would 
hurry up such people as wished to go to Egypt, writes 
from Wadelai that the steamers are engaged in trans- 
porting some people from Dufile -to Wadelai ; that 
the work of transport between Wadelai and Tun guru 
will be resumed upon the accomplishment of the other 
task. When he went away from here we were in- 
formed that he was deposed, and that Emin Pasha 
and he were sentenced to death by the rebel officers. 
We now learn that the rebel officers, ten in number, 
and all their faction, are desirous of proceeding to 
Egypt ; we may suppose, therefore, that Selim Bey's 
party is in the ascendant again. 

" Shukri Aga, the chief of the Mswa station — the 
station nearest to us — paid us a visit there in the mid- 
dle of March. He was informed on the 1 6th of March, 
the day that he departed, that our departure for Zan- 
zibar would positively begin on the 10th of April. He 
took with him urgent letters for Selim Bey announc- 
ing that fact in unmistakable terms. Eight days later 
we hear that Shukri Aga is still at Mswa, having only 
sent a few women and children to the Nyanza camp, 



190 ABANDONMENT OF THE SOUDAN. 

yet lie and his people might have been here by this if 
they intended to accompany us. 

" Thirty days ago Selim Bey left us with a promise 
€>f a reasonable time. The Pasha thought once that 
twenty days would be a reasonable time. However, 
we have extended it to forty-four days. Judging by 
the length of time Selim Bey has already taken, only 
reaching Tunguru with one-sixteenth of the expected 
force, I personally am quite prepared to give the Pasha 
my decision. For you must know, gentlemen, that 
the Pasha having heard from Selim Bey c intelligence 
so encouraging/ wishes to know my decision, but I 
have preferred to call you to answer for me. 

" You are aware that our instructions were to carry 
relief to Emm Pasha, and to escort such as were will- 
ing to accompany us to Egypt. We arrived at the 
Nyanza, and met Emin Pasha in the latter part of 
April 1888, just twelve months ago. We handed him 
his letters from the Khedive and his Government, and 
also the first instalment of relief, and asked him 
whether we were to have the pleasure of his company 
to Zanzibar. He replied that his decision depended 
on that of his people. 

" This was the first adverse news that we received. 
Instead of meeting with a number of people only too 
anxious to leave .Africa, it was questionable whether 
there would be any except a few Egyptian clerks. 
With Major Barttelot so far distant in the rear, we 
could not wait at the Nyanza for this decision. As 
that might possibly require months, it would be more 
profitable to seek and assist the rear-column, and by 
the time we arrived here again, those willing to go to 
Egypt would probably be impatient to start. We, 
therefore, leaving Mr. Jephson t® convey our message 
to the Pasha's troops, returned to the forest region for 
the rear-column, and in nine months were back again 
on the Nyanza. But instead of discovering a camp 
of people anxious and ready to depart from Africa, 
we find no camp at all, but hear that both the Pasha 
and Mr. Jephson are prisoners, that the Pasha lias 
been in imminent danger of his life from the rebels, 
and at another time is in danger of being bound on 
his bedstead and taken to the interior of Makkaraka 
Country. It has been current talk in the province that 



DELAYS. 191 

we were only a party of conspirators and adventurers, 
that the letters of the Khedive and Nubar Pasha 
were forgeries concocted by the vile Christians, Stan- 
ley and Casati, assisted by Mohammed Emin Pasha. 
So elated have the rebels been by their bloodless vic- 
tory over the Pasha and Mr. Jephson, that they have 
confidently boasted of their purpose to entrap me by 
cajoling words, and strip our expedition of everything 
belonging to it, and send us adrift into the wilds to 
perish. 

"We need not dwell on the ingratitude of these 
men, or on their intense ignorance and evil natures, 
but you must bear in mind the facts to guide you to a 
clear decision. 

u ¥e believed when we volunteered for this work 
that we should be met with open arms. We were re- 
ceived with indifference, until we were led to doubt 
whether any people wished to depart. My representa- 
tive was made a prisoner, menaced with rifles, threats 
were freely used. The Pasha was deposed, and for 
three months was a close prisoner. I am told this is 
the third revolt in the province. Well, in the face of 
all this, we have waited nearly twelve months to ob- 
tain the few hundreds of unarmed men, women, and 
children in this camp. As I promised Selim Bey and 
his officers that I would give a reasonable time, Selim 
Bey and his officers repeatedly promised to us there 
should be no delay. The Pasha has already fixed 
April 10th, which extended their time to forty-four 
days, sufficient for three round voyages for each 
steamer. The news brought to-day is not that Selbtt 
Bey is close here, but that he has not started from 
Wadelai yet. 

" In addition to his own friends, who are said to be 
loyal and obedient to him, he brings the ten rebel of- 
ficers, and some 600 or 700 soldiers, their faction. 

"Remembering the three revolts which these same of- 
ficers have inspired, their pronounced intentions against 
this expedition, their plots and counterplots, the life 
of conspiracy and smiling treachery they have led, we 
may well pause to consider what object principally an- 
imates them now — that from being ungovernably re- 
bellious against all constituted authority, they have 
suddenly become obedient and loyal soldiers of tb§ 



192 ABANDONMENT OF THE SOUDAN. 

Khedive and his ' great Government/ You must be 
aware that, exclusive of the thirty-one boxes of ammu- 
nition delivered to the Pasha by us in May 1888, the 
rebels possess ammunition of the Provincial Govern- 
ment equal to twenty of our cases. We are bound to 
credit them with intelligence enough to perceive that 
such a small supply would be fired in an hour's fight- 
ing among so many rifles, and that only a show of 
submission and apparent loyalty will ensure a further 
supply from us. Though the Pasha brightens up each 
time he obtains a plausible letter from these people, 
strangers like we are may also be forgiven for not 
readily trusting those men whom they have such good 
cause to mistrust. Can we be certain, however, that 
if we admit them into this camp as good friends and 
loyal soldiers of Egypt, they will not rise up some 
night and possess themselves of all the ammunition, 
and so deprive us of the power of returning to Zanzi- 
bar? With our minds filled with Mr. Jephson's extra- 
ordinary revelations of what has been going on in the 
province since the closing of the Nile route, beholding 
the Pasha here before my very eyes — who was lately 
supposed to have several thousands of people under 
him, but now without any important following — and 
bearing in mind ' the cajolings ' and the ' wiles ' by 
which we were to be entrapped, I ask you, would we be 
wise in extending the time of delay beyond the date 
fixed— that is, the 10th of April?" 

' ' The officers one after the other replied in the nega- 
tive. 

"'There, Pasha,' I said, 'you have your ans>er. 
We march on the 10th of April.' 

" The Pasha then asked if we could 'in our con- 
sciences acquit him of having abandoned his peoplo,' 
supposing they had not arrived on the 10th of April i 
We replied, ' Most certainly.' 

"Three or four days after this I was informed b} T 
the Phaas — who pays great deference to Captain Ca- 
sati's views — that Captain Casati was by no means 
certain that he was doing quite right in abandoning 
his people. According to the Pasha's desire I went 
over to see Captain Casati, followed soon after by 
Emin Pasha. 

" Questions of law, honour, duty, were brought for- 



ARGUMENTS. 193 

ward by Casati, who expressed himself clearly that 
moralemente Emin Pasha was bound to stay by his 
people. 

64 1 had to refute these morbid ideas with the A B 
C of common sense. I had to illustrate the obliga- 
tions of Emin Pasha to his soldiers by comparing 
them to a mutual contract between two parties. One 
party refused to abide by its stipulations, and would 
have no communication with the other, but proposed 
to itself to put the second party to death. Could 
that be called a contract ? Emin Pasha was appointed 
governor of the province. He had remained faithful 
to his post and duties till his own people rejected him, 
and finally deposed him. He had been informed by 
his Government that if he and his officers and soldiers 
elected to quit the province they could avail them- 
selves of the escort of the expedition which had been 
sent to their assistance, or stay in Africa on their own 
responsibility ; that the Government had abandoned 
the province altogether. But when the Pasha informs 
his people of the Government's wishes, the officers and 
soldiers declare the whole to be false, and for three 
months detain him a close prisoner. Where was the 
dishonour to the Pasha in yielding to what was in- 
evitable and indisputable ? As for duty, the Pasha 
had a dual duty to perform, that to the Khedive as his 
chief, and that to his soldiers. So long as neither 
duty clashed, affairs proceeded smoothly enough ; but 
the instant it was hinted to the soldiers that they 
might retire now if they wished, they broke out into 
open violence and revolted, absolved the Pasha of all 
duty towards them, and denied that he had any duty 
to perform to them. Consequently the Pasha could 
not be morally bound to care in the least for people 
who would not listen to him. 

"I do not think Casati was convinced, nor do I 
think the Pasha was convinced. But it is strange 
what strong hold this part of Africa has upon the af- 
fections of European officers, Egyptian officers and 
Soudanese soldiers ! . . . 

" The day after I was informed that there had been 
an alarm in my camp the night before ; the Zanziba- 
ri quarters had been entered by the Pasha's people, 



J.y4 ABANDONMENT OF THE SOUDAN. 

and an attempt made to abstract the rifles. This it 
was that urged me to immediate action. 

" I knew there had been conspiracies in the camp, 
that the malcontents were increasing, that we had 
many rebels at heart against us, that the people 
dreaded the march more than they feared the natives ; 
but I scarcely believed that they would have dared to 
put into practice their disloyal ideas in my camp. 

" I proceeded to the Pasha to consult with him, but 
the Pasha would consent to no proposition, not but 
what they appeared necessary and good, but he could 
not, owing to the want of time, &c. Yet the Pasha the 
evening before had received a post from Wadelai 
which brought him terrible tales of disorder, distress, 
and helplessness among Selim Bey and his faction, and 
the rebels and their adherents. 

" I accordingly informed him that I proposed to act 
immediately, and would ascertain for myself what this 
hidden danger in the camp was, and, as a first step, 
I would be obliged if the Pasha would signal for gen- 
eral muster of the principal Egyptians in the square 
of his camp. 

u The summons being sounded, and not attended to 
quickly enough to satisfy me, half a company of Zan- 
zibans were detailed to take sticks and rout every one 
from their huts. Dismayed by these energetic meas- 
ures, they poured into the square, which was surrounded 
by rifles 

" On being questioned, they denied all knowledge 
of any plot to steal the rifles from us, or to fight, or 
to withstand in any manner any order. It was then 
proposed that those Avho desired to accompany us to 
Zanzibar should stand on one side. They all hastened 
to one side except two of the Pasha's servants. The 
re»t of the Pasha's people, having paid no attention to 
the summons, were secured in their huts, and brought 
to the camp-square, where some were flogged, and 
others ironed and put under guard. 

'' ' Now, Pasha,' I said, ' will you be good enough 
to tell all these Arabs that these rebellious tricks of 
Wadelai and Dufile must cease here, for at the first 
move made by them I shall be obliged to exterminate 
them utterly.' 



RETREAT OF THE FIFTEEN HUNDRED. 195 

" On the Pasha translating, the Arabs bowed, and 
vowed that they would obey their father religiously." 

From that time the evacuation was determined on, 
and preparations were made for an immediate start. 
Of Emiu's people there were 84 married women, 187 
female domestics, 74 children above two years, 35 
infants in arms ; these with the men made up a total 
of about 600. The relief expedition numbered 550, 
and 350 native carriers had been enrolled from the dis- 
trict to assist in carrying the baggage, so that on the 
10th of April the caravan set out from Kavalli in 
number about 1500. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

RETREAT OT THE FIFTEEN HUNDRED. 

The start — Stanley's illness — Mutiny — On the march — Skirmishes with the 
Warasura — Crossing the Semliki — The affluent of Lake Albert — In the 
valley — Mountains of the Moon — Speke's geographical genius — Alpine 
climbing — The Usougora — Town of Kative — Lake Albert Edward — 
Sources of the Nile. 

In the history of antiquity there is the record of a 
retreat above all others great and glorious. It was 
that of the 10,000 Greeks who after the battle of 
Cunaxa, through perils and dangers of every kind, 
without food, without guides, through wild and ter-, 
rible country, pursued and harassed by Artaxerxes 
and his Persians, at last attained their native land. 
A thousand miles from the sea which they had thought 
never to behold again, they accomplished their march 
in 120 days, mainly owing to the skill and courage of 
their leaders. Of these Xenophon, who was one of 
• the heroes of this memorable campaign, afterwards 
ftoecame its immortal historian. 

We are now face to face with an achievement of a 
similar kind, which cannot fail to take its place in the 
pages of the world's history, and which will have for 
i-ts narrator the man who has accomplished the deed. 

It is true there were not 10,000 men that Stanley 
had to oouvoy to the shore of the Indian Ocean ; but 
his caravan included many helpless women, children, 
and slaves. Instead of brave and well-disciplined 
forces 3 he had to control artful and cowardly Egyp- 



196 Stanley's illness. 

turns, timid negroes, and Zanzibaris, who though 
loyal, were lazy. On the other hand, it was not 1000 
but more than 1500 miles that he had to travel before 
reaching the harbour of safety, a distance equal to that 
covered in Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. 

Moreover, he was in the heart of the dark conti- 
nent, beneath the burning rays of an equatorial sun, 
on the threshold of that mysterious region, the birth- 
place of the Nile, of which centuries of research failed 
to unveil the secrets. 

And whilst he has thus thrown the achievements of 
the 10,000 into the shade, he has revealed an unknown 
country to the eyes of science, has introduced new 
nations to the world of history, has found the solution 
to the long- tried problem of the origin of the " Father 
of rivers." 

On April 10th, 1889, the camp at Kavalli was 
raised, and the caravan started, an interminable file 
of soldiers, porters, women, and children, carrying 
provisions, ammunition, and baggage of all sorts, 
and accompanied by all the cattle that could be pro- 
cured. The retreat had commenced. 

They encamped at Mazamboni's on the 12th. The 
same night Stanley was struck down with severe ill- 
ness, which well-nigh proved fatal. For some time 
his life was in danger, but thanks to his good consti- 
tution, and the careful nursing and attention of Dr. 
Parke, the disorder was overcome, and the patient 
was convalescent. 

Stanley's illness delayed the advance of the cara- 
van for twenty-eight days. During that time several 
conspiracies were afloat in the camp amongst Emin's 
soldiers. Only one, however, was attempted to be 
.realised. The ringleader, a slave of Awach EfTendi's, 
whom Stanley had made free at Kavalli, was ar- 
rested, and after court-martial, which found him guilty, 
was immediately executed. From that time there was 
no further breach of discipline. 

By May 8th, the column was able to resume its 
march. The route was to the south, skirting the re- 
gion of the forests, which Stanley with his present 
party would not have dared to face, as the Egyptians 
seemed to have very vague notions about the journey. 
Besides, there was the question of food, which would 



RETREAT OF THE FIFTEEN HUNDRED. 197 

prevent a company of 1500 people from attempting a 
passage through a district where caravans of only 200 
or 300 had sometimes narrowly escaped perishing 
with hunger. Nevertheless, though much has been 
said to the contrary, Stanley never regretted that he 
went to Emm's relief by way of the Aruwimi, instead of 
from Zanzibar through the Masai country. This may 
be seen from the following extract from a letter that 
he wrote to Sir William Mackinnon : — 

" By-the-bye, Emin Pasha said it was very lucky I 
did not approach him from the east by way of the 
Masai and Ukedo, or Langgo as he calls it. The 
Langgo land is a great waterless desert lor the most 
part. Even if we had been able to pierce through the 
Wakedi, it is doubtful if the want of food and water 
had not annihilated the expedition. . . . Now that 
we know the Ituri so well, I feel convinced that we 
could not have chosen a better route. " 

All the district extending southwards to the Muta 
Nzig6 has recently fallen under the sovereignty of 
Kabrega ; the rapacious potentate of Unyoro, who has 
made a bold push in this direction, his bands of ma- 
rauders keeping the entire neighbourhood in a state of 
agitation. 

In making his advance, Stanley did not escape the 
necessity of using powder and shot. First, the war- 
like Warasura, the name given to the Wanyoro in 
that district, congregated near the village of Buhobo, 
and endeavoured to waylay the caravan. They were 
routed, and fled in all directions. 

Then two days later, whilst crossing the Semliki, 
the war-cry was heard again, and a well-directed vol- 
ley of arrows was discharged upon their rear. Guns 
: were again brought into use, and the natives were 
* chased for some distance. Henceforward the course 
was clear. 

Stanley was now on the threshold of a land of win- 
ders. The valley of the Semliki lay outstretched 
before him, extending to the south-west far as the eye 
could reach. In its midst, bending now to the north- 
east, now to the north-west, 80 to 100 yards wide, 
and averaging 9 feet in depth, flowed the river t its 
rapid current bearing the ample volume of its waters 
towards the Albert Nyanza. On either hand were 



198 speke' s hypothesis. 

fertile plains, dotted over with villages, groves of 
bananas and acacias, well cultivated fields, and splen- 
did pastures. These are bounded east and west by 
ridges of hills rising from 300 to 900 feet above the 
level of the valley, and crowned by vast plateaus that 
slope gradually eastwards to the Congo, and on the 
north-west join the tableland of Unyoro. 

In the central portion of this latter region the hills 
rise ridge upon ridge, and there is one great mountain 
chain that culminates in a snow-clad peak, probably 
17,000 feet in height, the Ruwenzori, known by the 
natives as the " Cloud-King." 

Ancient writers were well aware that beyond the 
sands of the desert lay a system of inland lakes con- 
nected by streams that together formed the Nile ; 
behind these lakes, they averred, was a chain of 
mighty mountains, to which they gave the name of 
"Mountains of the Moon." The earliest explorers 
of Eastern Africa imagined that in Mounts Kenia 
and Kilima-Njaro, those other snow-peaks of the 
equatorial regions, they had discovered these moun- 
tains of the moon ; but Captain Speke, with the mar- 
vellous clairvoyance of which he gave so many proofs 
during his short career, marked them on his map as 
lying between Lake Albert and Lake Tanga^dka. 
Utilising with a rare sagacity the information that he 
picked up from the natives along his route, he came 
to the conclusion that away to the north-west was a 
lake — Muta Nzige — and that this lake was bounded 
by a lofty mountain range that could be no other than 
the ancient Mountains of the Moon. 

Twenty years ago this hypothesis was the cause of 
much scientific discussion. Speke's assertions were 
violently attacked, especially by Captain Burton, his 
fellow traveller. Then the matter was forgotten. 

But direct observation has proved that Speke was 
right. Stanley has now brought the Mountains of the 
Moon within the range of positive knowledge, and 
that in the very locality which Speke had indicated, 
thus rendering a striking tribute to the geographical 
genius of his illlustrious predecessor. 

To Europeans the mysteries of this ancient range 
have always been the subject of much curiosity, and 
almost all the officers of blie expedition had a keen de- 



RETREAT OF THE FIFTEEN HUNDRED. 199 

sire to distinguish themselves as climbers of these Af- 
rican Alps. Lieutenant Stairs succeeded in attaining 
the greatest altitude, but had the mortification to find 
two deep gulfs between him and the snowy mount 
proper. 

Early on the morning of June 6th, accompanied by 
some forty Zanzibaris, he left the camp, and com- 
menced the ascent of the mountain. For the first 300 
yards the climbing was fairly good, the path being 
through long rank grass. At 8.30 the thermometer 
registered 75° F. The aspect of the country here be- 
came different, and on all sides there could be seen 
dracsenas, and here and there an occasional tree-fern 
and Mwab palm. 

At 10.38, after some sharp climbing, the moun- 
taineers reached the last settlement of the natives. 
The thermometer then read 84° F. Beyond the settle- 
ment the way led through a forest of bamboos, which 
became denser as they ascended. They now noticed 
a complete and sudden change in the air ; it became 
much cooler and more pure and refreshing, and in an- 
other two hours the thermometer had fallen to 70°. It 
was now past midday. Right ahead of them, rising in 
one even slope for 1200 feet, stood a peak, which they 
now started to climb. The ascent was most difficult, 
as in some places it was covered with arborescent 
bushwood some 20 feet high, and in others with a 
thick spongy carpet of wet slippery moss, studded 
with blue violets and lichens. 

Shortly after 4 p.m. they halted to encamp for the 
night at an altitude of 8500 feet. On turning in, the 
thermometer registered only 60°, and the Zanzibaris, 
who were lightly-clad, felt the cold very much. 

The ascent was continued on the following day, and 
persevered in until 10 a.m., when Lieutenant Stairs 
found his progress stopped by an immense ravine, at 
the bottom of which there w T as dense bush. Here lie 
had his first glimpse of a snow-peak about two and a 
half miles away, and he estimated that it would take 
at least a day and* a half to reach the snow-line. Un- 
provided as he was with food and warm clothing for 
his men, he thought it better to return, hoping that at 
some future time a more favourable opportunity for 
making the ascent would present itself. The altitude 



200 LAKE ALBERT EDWARD. 

reached by the party was 10,677 feet above the level 
of the sea. 

By about 3 p.m. Stairs and his men had rejoined the 
expedition. His excursion had convinced him that 
the Ruwenzori range is of volcanic origin, the ex- 
treme top of the peak having a distinct crater-like 
form. 

A march of nineteen days brought the caravan to 
the south-west angle of the range. On June 26th it 
left the Awamba, as that part of the Semliki valley is 
called, and entered the plains of Usongora. These at 
present are almost a desert, but there are traces of the 
recent existence of a large population, which has been 
driven off by the raids of the Warasura. The free- 
booting tribe here showed some signs of hostility. 
But no fighting was necessary ; the report that the 
caravan was invincible had already preceded it, and 
on its appearance the Warasura were seized with a 
panic and tied. 

On July 1st the caravan made its entry into the im- 
portant town of Kative, well known for its salt-pit, 
which supplies not only Usongora, but also Toro, 
Ankori, Mpororo, Ruanda, Ukonju, and many other 
districts with salt. 

Near Kative, Stanley found a definite solution to 
the problem of the sources of the Nile. The Semliki, 
of which he had just ascended the right bank, is none 
other than the channel which carries into Lake Albert 
the overflow of another lake, known upon the maps as 
Muta Nzige, and of which he had a distant view in 
1876. He now named it the Albert Edward Nyanza, 
in honour of the u first British Prince who has shown 
a decided interest in African geography." 

Compared with the Victoria, the Tanganyika, and 
the Nyassa, this upper lake of the western Nile-sys- 
tem is small, though its length cannot be less than 50 
miles. It is about 3000 feet above the sea-level, that 
is, 1000 feet higher than Lake Albert. Between the 
two lakes, the Semliki forms a series of falls and 
rapids. 

Henceforward, thanks to Stanley, the upper Nile- 
system is clearly defined. The Muta Nzige* is the 
reservoir of all the waters from the west that by way 
Of the Semliki fall into the Albert Nyanza, just a§ tito 



RETREAT OF THE FIFTEEN HUNDRED. 201 

Victoria Nyanza is the reservoir for all the waters 
from the east that by way of the Somerset also fall 
into Lake Albert. 

And thus is verified the assertion of the Greek 
geographers — that the Nile has its sources in two in- 
land seas. The Muta Nzige is the palus occidentalism 
the Victoria Nyanza is the palus orientalis. The out- 
pour of the lakes, the two streams of the Semliki and 
the Somerset, commingle their waters in a third reser- 
voir, the Albert Nyanza, and re-issue conjointly under 
the name of the Bahr-el-Jebel, which lower down is 
known as the Bahr-el-Abiad, or White Nile. 

Speke, in 1859 and 1861, introduced an important 
factor into the solution of the problem by the discov- 
ery of Lake Victoria ; Baker, in 1863, by that of Lake 
Albert ; and Stanley has completed the work in 1889 
by verifying the Semliki as the connection between 
Lake Albert and Muta Nzige. 

Rounding the north end of Lake Albert Edward, 
the caravan passed through Usongora, Toro, Uhai- 
yama, and Unyampaka. Stanley had visited the lat- 
ter in 1876,*and Ringi, the king, who was at war with 
Unyoro, now received him with much hospitality. 
The natives of this district were all friendly, as the 
reports of its good deeds in relieving the country of 
the presence of the obnoxious Warasura had preceded 
the caravan. It was the first really kind welcome it 
had had since leaving Kavalli. 

Stanley speaks in high terms of the comeliness of 
the various tribes in this mountain district. He de- 
scribes the natives of Usongora as a fine race, but in 
no way differing from the finer types of men seen in 
Karangwe and Ankori, and the ^Valium a shepherds of 
Uganda. The Toro natives also are a mixture of the 
higher class of negroes, and the majority of the Wa- 
huma can boast of features quite as regular, fine, and 
delicate as Europeans. 

A few days later the column left the shores of the 
Lake, and turning south-eastwards, came on to the 
high table-land of Ankori. They were now about 600 
miles from Kavalli ; more than 1000 had still to be 
travelled before they would reach Zanzibar. 

Their trials were not yet at an. en.d ; fresh difficulties 
bad still to be overcome. 



202 TO ZANZIBAR- 



CHAPTER XX. 

TO ZANZIBAR. 

Ankori and Karangwe — The land of fever — Frightful mortality — Lake Wind- 
er me re and Kafurro — Fresh geographical discovery — Expansion of meas- 
urement of Lake Victoria — Arrival at Msalala — First news from Eu- 
rope— Morejlighting — Mp wap wa — A harassed march — Arrival at Bagamoyo 
— Conclusion. 

Alike from its picturesqueness and from the char- 
acter of its population the region between Lake Albert 
Edward and Lake Victoria is one of the most interest- 
ing in Central Africa. 

It consists of a series of wide plateaux ranging from 
4000 feet to 5000 feet above the level of the sea, 
bounded by. a chain of conical peaks. This chain 
joins the Ruwenzori range on the north, and includes, 
with the Kibanga, Ankori, Mpororo, and Ruanda dis- 
tricts, the watershed of Lake Albert Edward on the 
west and Lake Victoria on the east. The highest 
summits along the line are Mounts Gordon-Bennett 
and Lawson on the north, and the elevation of the 
Mfumbiro Mountains in the centre, which all rise to a 
height of over 12,000 feet. To the west of the chain 
are the plains of Ankori ; to the south-east those of 
Karangwe. In both these districts the people are 
agriculturists, and uniformly hospitable. They are a 
handsome race, many of them having regular well-de- 
fined features that would bear comparison with those 
of Europeans. 

The Ankori country is subject to keen and search- 
ing winds winch are extremely trying to health, and 
which proved very disastrous in thinning the numbers 
of the expedition. Never ail along had fever been so 
prevalent ; as many as 150 cases broke out in a single 
day, and even seasoned veterans like Emin and Casati 
more than once were prostrated by its effects. The 
negroes, no matter of what tribe, fell out of the line 
of march, and laid themselves down by the wayside to 
" gleep off" their painful languor, whilst the Egyp- 



THE VICTORIA NYANZA. 203 

tians, too, worn out by fatigue, ulcers, and dysentery, 
would hide themselves in any recess and sink down on 
the ground, where, unless they were picked up and 
carried on by the rear-guard, they would be left 
amongst the natives, who (however well-disposed they 
might be) could yet not understand a word of the 
language they spoke. 

So terrible were the ravages of the fever that in the 
month of July alone the caravan lost no less than 141 
of its followers. 

On the 1st of August the expedition crossed the 
Kagera, a stream that conveys to the Lake Victoria 
the waters of a cluster of minor lakes. Four days 
later it reached Kafurro, at no great distance from the 
lake, which is the smallest of all these, and which was 
named Lake Windermere by Speke's companion, 
Captain Grant, because of its fancied resemblance to 
the English lake in Westmoreland. 

Kafurro may be described as a well-known locality, 
an Arab settlement having been established there for 
more than thirty years ; Speke and Grant having 
stayed at it for several clays in 1861, and Stanley 
having resided there for a whole month in 1877, all 
three of them being hospitably entertained by Ru- 
manika, the well-disposed sovereign of Karangwe. 
Now again the caravan received a cordial welcome ; 
the chiefs were all courteous, and the supply of pro- 
visions abundant. The district altogether is very fine ; 
rich pastures on which large herds of cattle graze 
alternate with swelling uplands, planted with magnifi- 
cent trees, or fruitful with luxuriant crops, and fre- 
quently crowned with thickets of acacia. Rhinoc- 
eroses, both black and white, are numerous, and herds 
of horned antelopes are not unfrequently to be seen. 

And here, in passing onwards from Karangwe to 
the adjacent district of Uzinja, Stanley made a re- 
markable discovery which was quite unexpected. He 
was following the route which had been taken by 
Speke and Grant in 1861, and relying upon the indi- 
ecations of his map, he was entirely under the im- 
pression that he was still a long distance away from 
the south-west boundary of Lake Victoria ; his sur- 
prise may be imagined when on making a bend to the 
north-east in the direction of Msalala, he saw, imme-» 



204 TO ZANZIBAR. 

diately before him, the broad expanse of the Victoria 
Nyanza itself. 

In all existing charts the Uzinja shore is marked as 
taking a north-westerly direction. This presumptive 
coast-line, however, would now seem to be a succes- 
sion ot mountainous islands lying so closely one be- 
hind another, that Stanley himself, when he was mak- 
ing his circumnavigation of the Lake in 1876, had 
been misled, and had conjectured them to be the 
mainland. It was obvious now that such was not the 
case, and, moreover, it was demonstrated that the 
Lake extends far away beyond them to the south- 
west. This adjustment gives the Lake an additional 
area of 6000 square miles. 

And as the expedition now made its progress, fresh 
discoveries were ever being made, even in quarters 
where Stanley himself did not suppose that there was 
anything unknown to be revealed. 

At length on the 28th of August, as the eye pierced 
through the foliage of the banana-trees, it rested on 
a cross that rose above the thatched roof of a Chris- 
tian church. Here was the mission-station or Msalala, 
in charge of Mr. Mackay ; here assuredly were the 
outskirts of the world of civilisation ! 

For twenty days a halt was made at Msalala. It 
was a well-earned rest. 

The time during the stay was mainly occupied in 
providing for the transport of the provisions which 
had been sent by the " Emm Pasha Relief Commit- 
tee " a yeai and a half previously ; and in dealing 
with the mass of correspondence which would have 
been forwarded to them by way ol Uganda and Un- 
yoro, had not those districts been closed to all Euro- 
peans. Since January 1888 Emin and Casati had 
received no communications from Europe, Stanley 
(having been cut off from all correspondence since 
June 1887. 

The next proceeding was to despatch an express 
courier from Msalala to the coast with letters for 
Europe. The letters were delivered at the coast sta- 
tion on November 2nd, and the substance of their 
contents was immediately forwarded by telegraph. 

Much refreshed by the three weeks' repose, the car- 
avan get forth again on the 6th of September upon 



MPWAFWA. 205 

the last stage of its march. It proceeded along the 
accustomed route, through Usikumu and Ihuru to- 
wards Mpwapwa. 

Having twice already travelled along the greater 
part of this road, Stanley was sanguine in believing 
that no difficulties would arise, and that all hardships 
were at an end : but he was reckoning too fast ; he 
had to learn that till he was actually in port, he had 
obstacles to overcome. 

"Previously," wrote Stanley about this time, "I 
have seen my difficulties diminished as I have arrived 
nearer the coast. I cannot say so much now. Our 
long train of invalids tells quite a different tale. Un- 
til I can get these unfortunates on board a steamer 
there will be no peace for me. And the most dis- 
heartening thing about it is that after all the toil and 
trouble we have had in carrying them 1200 miles, and 
in fighting for them to protect their lives, we see so 
many of them die just as we are within sight of port. 

" At the south of Lake Victoria, we passed four of 
the most harassing days of the entire journey ; there 
was respite during the night, otherwise we had to 
fight continuously with scarcely a moment's freedom 
from attack. The natives seem to have an inexplic- 
able hatred towards the Egyptians, and in order to 
repulse them we were compelled to inflict severe pen- 
alty upon them." 

Mpwapwa was reached on the 11th of November, 
fifty-five days after leaving Msalala, and 188 days 
after setting out from Kavalli. On the way, the 
number of the white men in the caravan had been 
increased by two, as it had been joined by Fathers 
Girault and Schinze of the Algerian mission ; but in 
the ranks of the Egyptians, Zanzibaris, and negroes 
the gaps were appalling. Out of the 1500 people 
who left Lake Nyanza scarcely a moiety survived to 
arrive at Mpwapwa ; the other 750 had fallen off or 
succumbed on the route, a number which tells its own 
sad and impressive tale of the sufferings that had to be 
endured during the 240 days of that gigantic march. 

No sooner was the approach of the returning expe- 
dition made known at Zanzibar than measures were 
promptly taken to send out provisions to meet it on 
its way j the organisation of the party being under the 



206 TO ZANZIBAR. 

control of Major Wissmann, the German commis- 
sioner, and Mr. Stevens, the correspondent of the 
New York Herald. 

The meeting with the envoys from the civilised 
world occurred on the 30th at Mswa. How welcome 
they were needs not to be told ; they were not simply 
the bearers of material comfort, but the harbingers 
of joy, announcing the satisfaction with which it was 
hailed that the expedition had so happily accomplished 
its design. 

" I feel" — this is what Stanley writes from Mswa 
— "just like a labourer on a Saturday evening return- 
ing home with his week's work done, his week's wages 
in his pocket, and glad that to-morrow is the Sabbath." 

Five days more and the protracted tramp was fin- 
ished. The 2nd of December was spent at Mbugani ; 
the 3rd at Bigiro ; on the 4th the Kinghani River was 
crossed ; and on the 5th Thalassa ! Thalassa ! the sea 
was in sight ! 

The Zanzibaris, catching a glimpse of the water be- 
yond the gardens of Bagamoyo, were breathless with 
excitement ; their e}^es filled with tears as their hearts 
were stirred with emotion. It was their native place ; 
they were at home once more. 

At Bagamoyo the reception that awaited Stanley 
was such as had never been accorded to an explorer 
of this generation. The town was elaborately dec- 
orated ; triumphal arches were erected across the av- 
enues ; the German troops were drawn up under 
Major Wissmann, himself distinguished in the annals 
of African exploration, having twice traversed the 
continent, and being like Stanley enlisted by the King 
of the Belgians for the great scheme of civilising 
Africa. There, too, were the consuls and represent- 
atives of various powers, bringing messages of con- 
gratulation from sovereigns, ministers, and scientific 
bodies. And now when Stanley and his companions, 
mounted on the horses which Major Wissmjann had 
provided, made their entry in their travelling gear, 
their clothes in rags, their features furrowed with the 
sufferings they had undergone, covered with the dust 
of the last eight months' toil, excitement knew no 
bounds ; palm-branches were waved ; trumpets blaz- 
oned out their welcome ; and salutes were thundered 



A NOBLE TRIUMPH. 207 

forth by the soldiers mustered on the shore, and from 
the troopships anchored in the harbour. 

It was a noble triumph that had been nobly earned. 

Three years had elapsed since the expedition had 
set out from Zanzibar on its critical adventure. Un- 
wearied skill, indomitable patience, superhuman effort, 
had brought it to a prosperous issue. The hero had 
returned, himself safe and sound, and had brought 
back Emin Pasha, rescued from the savage heart of 
Africa. 



INDEX. 



Abd-el-Kader 29 

Abou-Klea 35 

Air Sibba, fight at 147 

Albert, Lake 16 

, First sight of 153 

Description 156, seqq . 

Return to 162, 179 

Reservoir for Semliki river 200 

Albert Edward, Lake 200 

Ali-Kobo 56 

Aluri tribe 67 

Amadi 40 

Ankori 202 

Arrows, poisoned 147 

Aruwimi river 130, seqq. 

Bagamoyo, reception at 206 

Baker, meets Speke and Grant in 

1863 15 

Discovery of Lake Albert 201 

Bakongo 105 

Bakumu 151 

Banalya 171 

Bangala 128 

Bari tribe 43 

Barttelot, Major 83, 166, 170 

Basoko 130 

Bodo, Fort 159, 175 

Bolobo 123, 126 

Boma "..90,94 

Bongo tribe 37, seqq. 

Bor 57 

Cameron, death of Mr 35 

Cannibalism 50, 53 

Casati 52, 55 

At Unyoro 1 64 

Scruples ... 192 

Chaille-Long 20 

Congo Free State 89, seqq. 

Congo route 80, 196 

Congo, the.... . ...91, 97, seqq., Ill 

Dinka tribe 39 

Dufile 45,59, 165,183 

Dwarf races 159 

Dyoor tribe 39 

El-Gooba 35 

Emin Pasha (Dr. Schnitzer) 

46, seqq., 154, 162 

Letters 58, 63, 65, 163, 179, 186 

Meets first with Stanley 187 

Scientific interest 64 

Hesitation 165,188 



Equator Province 41, seqq. 

Stations of 62 

Equatorville 127 

Etlu-Digu 138 

Falls district. 97, seqq. 

Fanikoro 67 

Felkin, Dr., letter from Emin to.. 58 

Fischer, Dr 77 

Fort Bodo 159, 175 

Franqui, Lieutenant, letter from. 107 
French Settlement 91 

Gessi, Governor of Bahr-el-Gha- 

zal 22,41 

Gondokoro 15, 43 

Gordon, Governor of Soudan 20 

At Cairo 22 

Again governor 23 

At Brussels 30 

Proclamation 31 

Death 36 

" Henry Reed," steamboat 118 

Herbert, death of 35 

Hicks Pasha 27 

Ibwiri, halt at 150 

Ihuru 173 

Itumbiri river 123 

Ituri 153 

Jameson, Mr 83, 132 

Death 170 

Jephson, Mr. Mouteney 

83, 165, 175, 177, 180 

Letters from 182, seqq. 

Letter to 184 

Junker, Dr 48,76,77 

Letter from 74 

Kabrega 68, 197 

Kafurro 203 

Karam- Allah 58 

Kative 200 

Kavalli 131,153,184 

Khartoum, description of . . . 13, seqq. 

Fall of 36 

Kibiro 67 

Kilemfi 110 

Kilonga-Longa 149 

Kinchassa .. 122 

Kjahi river 68 

Kuzo-Kienzi market 102 



810 



INDEX. 



Lado 45 

" Land of rivers,' 1 37 

Latuka tribe 44 

Leopold's (King) instructions 92 

Leopoldville 113 

Lubaii 145 

Lukolela 127 

Lukungu 103 

Lupton Bey 41,57 

Luvu, river 101 

Madi tribe 43 

Mahdi 24, 27 

Proclamation 59 

Successor 137,138 

Makraka tribe 43 

Manquele" 113 

Manyanga 106 

Matadi 95 

Mazamboni 151, 196 

Messalimmeh 33 

Mitrailleuse (Maxim) 83, 96 

Monbuttoo tribe 52, seqq . 

Mongalla 123 

Mountains of the Moon 198 

Mpwapwa 205 

Msalala 74,204 

Msuata 121 

Mswa 163, 178 

Mtesa... o 72 

Munza . . .53, 159 

Muta Nzige 198 

Mwala 104 

Mwanga 73 

Niam-niam 49, seqq. 

Nsello 110 

Omar Saleh, letters from 141, 180 

Omdurman 35 

Osman Digna 28 

Letter from 140 

Palaballa rock-wall 100 

Panga Falls 1.46 

Parke, Dr 83, 160, 171, 196 

Raouf Pasha 24 

Rejaf 182, 183 

Remio 60 



Routes, choice of 78, 196 

Rumbek 40, 57 

Ruwenzoi i 157, 198 

Sanga 84 

Schweinfurth, Dr 

37, 50, 54, 55, 78, 136, 159 

Semliki 156,200,201 

Shuli tribe 67 

Soudan, extent in 1877 23 

Evacuation of 195 

Stanley, sent for 79 

Illness 161, 196 

Letters from 87, 116, 117, 

124, 125, 150, 151, 171, 173, 184, 189 

Popularity of 110 

Meeting with Emin 163, 187 

Reception at Bagamoyo 206 

Stanley Falls 132, 170 

Stanley Pool Ill, seqq. 

Stewart, General 34, 35 

Tippoo Tib 84, seqq., 129, 132, 135 

Stanley's letter to 171 

Tunguru 157 

Uganda 61,71 

Ugarrowwa 149, 171 

Unyoro 68, 156 

Van Gele, Captain 86, 136, 168 

Vossion, description of Khartoum. 13 
Vote of money 34 

Wadelai 61, 187 

Wambundu 110 

Warasura 197, 200 

Wauters 80 

Welle, river 47, seqq. 

White Nile, stations on 62 

White Pasha , 137 

Wilson, Colonel 35 

Wolseley, Lord, at Wady Haifa. . 34 

Yambuya 131, seqq. 

Yankonde 144 

Yombi 110 

Zebehr (Suleiman) 21, 32 

Zeribas 19 



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